Gold mine collapse in Sudan's Red Sea province kills 11 amid ongoing war

A traditional gold mine partially collapsed in war-torn Sudan’s northeast, killing 11 miners and injuring seven others, the state mining corporation said on Sunday.

Since the outbreak of conflict between Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, Sudan’s gold industry has substantially sustained both sides’ operations.

According to official and non-governmental organisation sources, almost all of the gold trade passes via the United Arab Emirates, which is commonly accused of supplying the RSF.

According to a statement from the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company (SMRC), the collapse happened in a “artisanal shaft in the Kirsh al-Fil mine” in the secluded desert location of Howeid, located between the army-controlled cities of Atbara and Haiya in Sudan’s northeastern Red Sea province.

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The company said it had stopped excavation and reiterated its warning to informal miners against working at the site.

It did not mention when the collapse took place.

The war, now in its third year, has shattered Sudan’s already-fragile economy, yet the army-backed government announced record gold production of 64 tonnes in 2024.

Africa’s third-largest country is one of the continent’s top gold producers, but artisanal and small-scale gold mining accounts for the majority of gold extracted.

In contrast to larger industrial facilities, these mines lack safety measures and use hazardous chemicals that often cause widespread diseases in nearby areas.

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SMRC said it had previously suspended work in the mine and “warned against its continuing activity due to its posing great risk to life”.

Before the war, which has pushed 25 million people into dire food insecurity, artisanal mining employed more than two million people, according to the industry.

Today, according to mining industry sources and experts, much of the gold produced by both sides is smuggled to Chad, South Sudan and Egypt, before reaching the UAE, the world’s second-largest gold exporter.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Sudan, where over 10 million people are currently displaced in the world’s largest displacement crisis.

A further four million have fled across borders.