Amate made the disclosure in an interview in Abuja.
He said the mining activities of the companies would be carried out in Kebbi, Osun and Kogi states.
He added that Mines Geotechniques Nig. Ltd., an Australian firm, and Northern Numero Resources Ltd. from the UK were granted licences to mine gold in Kebbi.
The director-general said two other Australian companies, Segilola Nigeria Ltd. and KCM Mining Ltd. would mine gold in Osun and iron ore in Kogi, respectively.
The companies had completed exploration programmes in areas approved for them and they would commence actual mining this year, he noted.
He explained that KCM Mining Ltd., which started exploration activities about four years ago in Kogi, completed the exercise last year and had delineated about 500 million tonnes of iron ore.
Segilola Nigeria Ltd., also an Australian company, would operate in Osun, and had concluded exploration programmes and had delineated more than one million ounces of gold there.
The director-general said the four firms that would commence mining activities this year were among 20 foreign companies granted mining exploration licences by the Federal Government.
Aside from Australia, he said, other firms from Canada, UK, Italy, China, Niger, India, South Africa and Ukraine had indicated intention to mine mineral resources in Nigeria, noting that some of the firms were at various levels of exploration.
"The companies have to conduct exploration first before mining to ensure that the area is rich in minerals or not and to know the types of minerals therein,'' he explained.
Amate said the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development had put necessary policies in place to encourage investment in the solid minerals sector.
He added that investors had started showing interest in the sector, with most of them coming from outside the country.
"You can see the number of foreign companies that are coming to take exploration licences and have even carried out exploration programmes.
"We are now getting foreign mining companies that are coming to invest in Nigeria and it is a good thing for the industry.
"Mining is a major sector that employs a lot of labour and with the coming of the mining companies, many Nigerians will be employed.''
He, however, added that "we insist that any company that wants to pick up a licence must employ qualified Nigerians and the companies are complying.''
He said Nigeria was the only country in Africa that had 100 per cent geological data generated through airborne geophysical survey, which was done through sustainable management of mineral resources programmes. (NAN)
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Criminal gangs are helping homeowners and landlords avoid paying for power by "hotwiring" supplies for as little as £10, BBC Inside Out has learned.
The energy thieves operating in London can tamper with 15 meters in a day, an investigation found.
Fraud investigators from British Gas said the gangs were risking causing gas explosions and endangering lives.
Regulator Ofgem believes theft costs the industry £400m per year. British Gas says it adds £30 to annual bills.
Mark Andrews, the firm's head of revenue protection, has warned people die "every year" because of meter tampering.
Power theft investigator Piers Merritt said: "We find trends where people go around estates and tamper with meters.
"These people will charge between £10 and £500 a time.
"They're not putting themselves at risk, if something happened there it's all the adjoining properties and everyone in there that's going to be affected by a potential explosion."
Investigators found five instances of gas theft and two of electricity theft in a Sheffield street where a house was destroyed in a suspected gas explosion last year.
The scale of the damage meant the cause of the explosion could not be identified.
Mr Andrews said: "The police were on site and they asked us whether or not we felt it was right to look at some of the other supplies on the street and yes, from 20 houses in a single terraced street, sure enough we found five gas thefts and two electricity thefts.
"It's a great example what the scale of the issue is."
In London, a man who received a suspended prison sentence for digging up a street in the capital, allowing residents to steal electricity, told Inside Out "thousands" of homes in the capital were avoiding paying for usage by "hotwiring" their supply.
Ofgem told the BBC it would be publishing proposals for electricity soon which will toughen up the existing rules by establishing new licence obligations for suppliers to detect, investigate and prevent electricity theft, just like the obligations already in place in the gas industry.
Cannabis farms
Mr Andrews said: "The difficult economic climate equals more people feeling this is the only way they can get their energy.
"This is a huge problem, we believe that perhaps £500m worth of gas and electricity is stolen across the industry each year.
"In terms of what that means for the customers, it's potentially £30 a year on their bills and it's money they shouldn't have to pay."
Inside Out was shown examples of bicycle inner tubes being used to divert supply.
Seven instances of tampering were found on the same street after a suspected gas explosion in Sheffield, Inside Out found
Lewisham Council has uncovered evidence that landlords are stealing the supply for multiple properties on the same street.
Ben Reeve-Lewis, from the council, said he regularly visited homes where meters suggested no electricity had been used for three months.
"Landlords of that kind will fill up their properties with people who can't complain," he said.
Ofgem believe a third of energy theft is linked to the illegal growing of cannabis and police and energy firm investigators have found booby traps close to illegitimate equipment.
Insp Lee Devall, from Essex Police, said: "Organised crime gangs don't want you to find this and are not happy when thousands of pounds worth of equipment is ruined."
Inside Out is broadcast on Monday, 20 January at 19:30 GMT on BBC One and is available for seven days thereafter on the iPlayer.
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The veteran striker scored twice in the first half and completed his treble just after the interval to leave Chelsea only two points behind leaders Arsenal and one adrift of Manchester City.
United manager David Moyes cut a dejected figure at the final whistle as he surveyed a 14-point gap to Arsenal at the top of the table - with matters made worse by the late red card for Nemanja Vidic following his needless lunge at Eden Hazard.
Javier Hernandez's goal hardly qualified as consolation and United must now try to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Sunderland in the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg at Old Trafford on Wednesday without their suspended captain, who starts a three-match ban.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has played down his side's title credentials but there is a real sense of momentum building around Stamford Bridge that will have only increased with this victory, the Portuguese's 100th in the Premier League. His first also came against United, back in 2004.
In Moyes's defence, he was without his injured world-class strike pair of Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie - but even those mitigating circumstances cannot disguise the brutal truth that United's current squad is simply not in shape to mount a title challenge and is inferior to that at Arsenal, let alone Chelsea and Manchester City.
The visitors were bound to lack a cutting edge with Rooney and Van Persie out, whereas Mourinho felt confident enough to leave out Fernando Torres, despite his goal in the win at Hull City, and restore Eto'o.
And how Mourinho was rewarded by Eto'o as the Cameroonian provided the finishing touches that Moyes's men were unable to apply to some good work of their own, particularly early on.
United's brisk start pinned the hosts back and Petr Cech had to plunge down sharply to save from Ashley Young in the opening moments, while Adnan Januzaj did much to confirm his rich promise.
But for all the visitors' early impetus, it was Chelsea who took the lead after 18 minutes when a left-foot shot from Eto'o took a vital touch off Michael Carrick's outstretched leg and looped over United keeper David de Gea.
The champions were still showing some ambition and almost equalised when Januzaj's cross evaded the Blues' defence and landed at the feet of Welbeck. He could only shoot straight at Cech, however, appealing in vain for a penalty as Cesar Azpilicueta appeared to catch his leg just as he shot.
It was to prove a decisive moment as Eto'o doubled Chelsea's lead seconds before half-time, Cahill squaring for the striker to sweep home a finish that De Gea touched but could not keep out.
United's hopes of getting something from the game took a final blow four minutes after the break when they were let down by dreadful marking at a corner. De Gea scrambled out Gary Cahill's header but the poacher supreme Eto'o pounced to turn home the loose ball.
All the optimism created by a promising opening had long since disappeared and it was simply a question of damage control.
Hernandez put something of a gloss on the scoreline when he turned in from almost on the line after Phil Jones fired a scuffed shot across the face of goal with 14 minutes left.
The visitors applied some belated pressure but Mourinho was able to shore Chelsea up with the introduction of John Obi Mikel and Nemanja Matic, the £21m signing from Benfica who has returned for a second spell at Stamford Bridge.
And just as United hoped to escape from west London without any further damage, Vidic lunged in on Hazard when there was no danger and received a red card.
United's frustration was now in danger of boiling over and Rafael was fortunate to receive only a yellow card for a flying two-footed challenge on Cahill.
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