DM Monitoring
Khartoum: A gold mine collapsed in southern Sudan, killing at least 60 people, two survivors told media on Wednesday, while many more are missing and feared dead under the rubble.
Since war erupted in April 2023 between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the war efforts of both sides have been largely funded by the country’s gold trade, valued at billions of dollars.
With much of the country out of work, many young Sudanese have joined a dangerous gold rush, mostly in unregulated mines such as Al-Zaraa in West Kordofan. The mine’s shafts began collapsing on Tuesday with dozens of small-scale miners underground. By the following morning, 60 bodies had been retrieved.
“We don’t know how many more are still inside,” one of the survivors, Khair al-Sayyed Jabara, told AFP after an all-night rescue operation with fellow miners, using the same rudimentary tools they use to extract gold.
“Everyone’s working very hard to retrieve the bodies or any survivors, but it’s difficult. We need heavy machinery to clear the rock and soil.”
Most of Sudan’s gold is extracted from artisanal and small-scale mining, which takes place in decommissioned mines or unofficial zones like Al-Zaraa.
Miners work with their hands and rudimentary tools for meagre daily wages. To clear gold nuggets from bits of earth, they are exposed to hazardous chemicals, including cyanide that often causes widespread illnesses in nearby areas.
The European Union in July banned the sale, transfer and export of mercury and cyanide to Sudan, for their use in the exploitative gold trade.
