By Ezechie Awele- Six people turned out to be dead, and up to 20 others are trapped in a gold mine after it collapsed in Northern Sudan, authorities stated on the 6th of September, 2025.
“The accident occurred on Friday in the Um Aud area, West of the city berber in River Nike state”, said Hassan Ibrahim Karar, executive director of the Berber Locality.
“Efforts are ongoing to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble”, Karar stated, without specifying the cause of the collapse of the artisanal gold mine.
Since the fighting erupted in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, both side have largely financed their war efforts from the country’s gold industry.
Official and NGO sources say nearly all of Susan’s Gold trade is funnelled through the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has been widely accused of supplying arms to the RSF— a charge it denies.
Despite the conflict, the army-supported government announced a record of the gold production for 2024, which was 64 tonnes.
Sudan, Which is Africa’s third largest country by area remains one of the best gold producers in the continent.
However, most gold is extracted through artisanal and small scale mining operations that are conducted, these operations often lack proper safety measures and often use hazardous chemicals which results in severe health risks for the miners and nearby communities close to the mine.
Before the war pushed 25 million Sudanese into acute food insecurity, artisanal mining employed more than 2 million people according to industry figures.
Today, mining experts say much of the gold produced by both warring factions is smuggled through the countries Chad, South Sudan and Egypt before reaching the UAE which is currently the world’s second largest gold exporter.
The conflict has claimed several thousands of lives and displace roughly 10 million people, creating the world’s largest displacement crisis. Which led to an additional 4 Million Sudanese to flee across the borders.
