Record gold prices have driven a surge in mining in Sudan, unlocking key revenue streams for the country’s fighting parties, allowing them to fund the conflict.
Two new reports show that gold mining last year reached its highest production in six years last year, with artisan miners and easily imported mining chemicals all contributing to the increase.
Gold production in Sudan reached around 80 tons of gold last year, worth more than $6 billion and becoming one of Africa’s top four gold producers. More than half of the gold is smuggled, many of which are in countries including the United Arab Emirates and Russia, according to the report.
The fight for control of gold assets was one of the driving forces of the civil war, exploded as a result of a power struggle between former Allies (SAF) from the Sudanese Army (SAF) and a paramilitary swift support force led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagallo, known as Hemeti.
Swissaid’s programme officer Ivan Schultz said when the war began, “it’s pretty much rooted in the fact that the entire mining industry is almost at a halt.”
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However, production has recovered quickly and is now a key source of funding on both sides of the conflict, killing more than 150,000 people and displaced over 12 million people. United Nations agencies warn of looming hunger.
Ahmed Soliman, a senior African researcher at Chatham House, think tank, said: “The industry supports the lives of up to one million people, but ultimately those resources are being extracted to help destroy the country, import weapons and help fighters tear down Sudan.”
Gold became the major export worker of the former Khartoum administration after the country’s southern oil production escaped in 2011.
The mining sector, which the Ministry of Mining, says it currently contributes 60% of its export revenue in the SAF controlled region, continues to grow despite several sanctions efforts. These include US sanctions introduced under the Joe Biden administration earlier this year on UAE-based gold buyers who said Washington had bought gold from Sudan.
A recent report argued that Washington-based think tank C4ADS could use sanctions to target supply chains that promote domestic production to provide leverage to fight parties.
“We are pleased to announce that we are committed to providing a wide range of services,” said Denise Sprimont-Vasquez, Program Director for C4ADS.
“Sudan has limited domestic production capacity for major mining precursor chemicals such as sodium cyanide and mercury,” she said. “As a result, the import supply chain offers an opportunity to halt these critical supply flows.”
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Although approximately 90% of Sudan’s gold mining is craftsmen, despite the civil war, larger concessionary mining operations continue.
In Darfur, the Sungo Mining area, managed by Al Junaid, a holding company managed by Hemeti’s family, is a key source of funding for the RSF, despite being under US sanctions since 2023.
These large mines rely on precursor chemicals such as sodium cyanide to operate. Trade records show that Chinese, UAE and German companies have shipped to Sodium Cyanide to Sudan over the past two years.
“Due to rising gold prices, there has been a rush of gold, including Sudan, where gold is illegally or illegally mined,” said Sasha Lezhnev, senior policy advisor for Sentry, a nonprofit group.
“It’s very easy to smuggle and export gold right now.
The weight of miners is Sudan gold. After other parts of Sudan’s economy collapsed, businessmen were drawn to the mining sector © Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters
With the help of Allied Muslim militias and new luxury Turkish drones, after the SAF, the war entered a dangerous new phase this year, regaining a vast strip of territory and recaptures the capital Khartoum.
The RSF, which has largely retreated to West Darfur, fought back against alleged UAE supporters, using Chinese drones, according to defense analysts.
The RSF strike targets the Port Sudan fuel depots, hydroelectric dams, power plants and international airports, the SAF’s wartime headquarters.
Chatham House co-author Soliman said the militarized network that controls the gold trade is deeply entrenched and has long been ahead of the civil war, according to a report on the central role that gold plays in the conflict. After other parts of the economy collapsed, they were bulged by businessmen attracted to the sector.
He said that the measures Europe and the US are ad hoc to sanction businesses and individuals.
“It’s important to generate greater visibility around conflict money, but that includes emphasising and disruption in the network involved, understanding who the company is, what the supply chain looks like, and targeting as much as possible through the main hub,” he said.
“It needs to be done in a coordinated way. It’s difficult to see what’s happening in the current geopolitical climate.”
SAF and RSF did not respond to requests for comment.
