Nigerian defence technology company Terra Industries has closed $2 million in contracts to protect lithium mining operations in Nigeria, securing its first commercial deal barely weeks after launching its commercial division.

The agreements cover two undisclosed mining companies. Under the contracts, Terra will deploy 20 sentry towers and four Iroko drones across the operators' sites for surveillance, real-time threat detection, and security response. All systems will run on ArtemisOS, Terra's proprietary autonomous command-and-control software platform, with expansion planned as each operator brings additional sites online. How quickly those additional sites come online will offer an early indicator of how the commercial model scales beyond a first deployment.

Rapid First Deal for New Commercial Division

The speed of the agreements is notable. Terra's commercial division launched on 28 August 2026, built specifically to extend the company's autonomous security systems beyond government and military contracts to privately owned infrastructure operators across Africa, the Gulf, South America, and South Asia. Closing paid contracts with private mining operators within weeks of launch gives the new unit its first evidence of demand among exactly the clientele it was created for.

"Government and military work will always be central to Terra," said co-founder and CEO Nathan Nwachuku at the time of the division's launch. "But the commercial division gives us a constant flywheel of partnerships across industries, and it makes us a stronger business because it puts our technology to work."

Two Years of Accelerating Growth

Terra Industries was founded in 2024 by Nathan Nwachuku and Maxwell Maduka with a single objective: to build Africa's sovereign defence-industrial base. In two years, it has moved from a startup to one of the continent's most closely watched defence technology companies.

August 2026 alone brought a string of milestones. Terra closed a $52 million seed round — its largest funding round to date — backed by 8VC, Silent Ventures, Nova Global, Belief Capital, SV Angel, and new investor Norleo Space Investments. It appointed former SpaceX executive Ben MacWilliams as VP of Strategy. It announced plans to open Africa's largest drone factory in Ghana before the end of the year, alongside an existing facility in Nigeria, and it opened its first office outside Africa in London.

Before the commercial division launched, Terra's technology was already deployed to protect power plants, mines, and other nationally critical assets valued at approximately $11 billion across multiple African countries. The company says it is on track to reach more than $100 million in contract bookings by the end of 2026. The $2 million in lithium contracts gives that target its first commercial-division contribution.

Designed for Thinly Protected Sites

The lithium mining contracts mark the commercial division's opening move. Mining, oil, and power operators across Africa run critical assets in locations where formal security coverage is thin and response times are long. Terra's Iroko drones and sentry towers, coordinated through ArtemisOS, are designed specifically for those environments, providing perimeter security, real-time threat detection, and deterrence without the cost and complexity of large human security teams.

Nigeria's lithium deposits are part of a broader continental mineral wealth drawing increasing global attention. As demand for lithium-ion batteries grows alongside the global electric vehicle market, the pressure to secure mining operations in remote and underserved locations will only increase — the precise conditions Terra's autonomous systems and its commercial division were built to address.

The company detailed the agreements in its official announcement: Terra Industries newsroom — lithium mining contracts