The state mining company claims that 11 miners and seven others have been killed and injured as a result of the brutal civil conflict between Sudan’s armed forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Both sides’ war chests have been largely funded by Sudan’s gold industry since the conflict started in April 2023.
The Sudanese Mineral Resources Company (SMRC) claimed that the collapse took place over the weekend in a “craftsman’s shaft in the Kirsh al-Fil mine” in the remote desert region of Howeid, which is located between the SAF-controlled cities of Atbara and Haiya in the country’s northeastern Red Sea state.
According to the SMRC, another seven workers suffered injuries and were taken to a hospital.
The company continued to work in the mine because it “presents a serious risk to life” and had previously suspended work there.
Nearly all of the gold trade is funnelled through the United Arab Emirates, which has been accused of arming the RSF, according to official and non-governmental sources. The UAE disputes this.
Sudan’s already fragile economy has been destroyed by the war. However, the army-backed government announced record gold production in 2024.
Although Africa’s third-largest nation is one of the top producers of gold, the majority of the gold is mined on small-scale and artisanal gold, or extracted.
These mines, in contrast to larger industrial ones, use dangerous chemicals that frequently lead to widespread illnesses in nearby areas and lack safety measures.
Additionally, mining collapses are frequent. Similar events have occurred in recent years, including a mine collapse in 2023 that claimed the lives of 14 miners and a second one that claimed 38 lives in 2021.
More than two million people worked in artisanal mining before the war, which has forced 25 million people into dire food insecurity, according to experts and sources in the mining sector.
According to those sources, a significant portion of the gold produced by both sides is currently smuggled into Chad, South Sudan, and Egypt before being transported to the UAE, the second-largest gold exporter in the world.
In Sudan, where there is the largest displacement crisis in history, more than 13 million people are currently displaced in the country.
More than 4 million people have emigrated from one country to another.
Source: Aljazeera
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