Printed On 22 Sep 2026
A gold mine collapse in northern Sudan has killed not less than 10 individuals and injured 21, in accordance with survivors, bringing renewed consideration to the hazards going through employees in one of many nation’s most vital and least regulated industries.
The collapse befell on Sunday on the Awny mining space close to Sudan’s border with Egypt. Miners instructed the AFP information company that they had recovered 10 our bodies and pulled 21 injured employees from the location, whereas the search continued for individuals believed to be trapped beneath the rubble. It’s unclear how many individuals are trapped within the collapsed mine.
The catastrophe comes simply days after one other lethal accident at a gold mine in West Kordofan State. A collapse on the al-Zaraa mine close to en-Nahud, a city in central Sudan, left not less than 82 individuals lifeless.
Sudan is one in all Africa’s prime gold producers, recording 70 tonnes of manufacturing final yr, in accordance with the Sudanese authorities.
Since combating broke out in April 2023 between Sudan’s military and the paramilitary Speedy Help Forces (RSF), companies have been devastated, agriculture has been disrupted, thousands and thousands of individuals have been displaced, and Sudan’s formal financial system has weakened. In that surroundings, gold has remained one of many nation’s Most worthy sources of earnings.
In July 2025, it was reported by native businesses that Sudan’s gold manufacturing rose sharply regardless of the continuing battle, reaching 64 tonnes in 2024, 53 % increased than the 41.8 tonnes recorded in 2022, and producing $1.57bn in authorized export revenues.
Nevertheless, the gold commerce has additionally change into a degree of worldwide scrutiny. Many of the gold exports find yourself within the UAE. In March 2025, Sudan went to the Worldwide Court docket of Justice (ICJ), accusing the UAE of supporting and funding the RSF utilizing gold. The UAE has denied accusations that it provides weapons to the RSF.
Sudan’s gold deposits are unfold throughout the nation, with the bulk within the northeast. Port Sudan, the nation’s major port, is dwelling to a lot of the deposits and has been largely managed by the Sudanese Military for the reason that struggle started. Nevertheless, areas managed by the RSF are additionally populated by gold deposits.
In the meanwhile, “a lot of Sudan’s gold is taken overseas by way of smuggling or illicit networks as an alternative of passing by way of authorities channels that would straight contribute to public income,” stated Joseph Tucker, senior analyst on the Horn of Africa on the Worldwide Disaster Group.
However amid that diplomatic battle and the accusations surrounding gold, the mining deaths in northern Sudan have additionally raised bigger questions over how the nation manages the sector, analysts say.
“This catastrophe is one more instance of the lethal hazards going through these working in Sudan’s gold mines,” Tucker instructed Al Jazeera. “Most of those (gold mines) are casual, artisanal mines in distant areas which can be unregulated and lack trendy mining expertise, sufficient infrastructure, and specialised security tools.”
This yr, Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idris met with the minister of minerals and spoke on the insurance policies for regulating conventional mining and the administration and management of varied mineral markets. In accordance with French-based Sudanese media, Sudanese authorities referred to as for swift motion to deal with the environmental harm and public well being hazards brought on by mining actions throughout the nation.
But, regardless of the hazards, Tucker stated the state of the Sudanese financial system made gold mining seem profitable to many Sudanese.
In the course of the struggle, the Sudanese currency’s value has crashed. Earlier than the outbreak of combating in 2023, about 570 Sudanese kilos might purchase a US greenback. By April 2026, the foreign money had slid to a sixth of that worth: It price 3,500 kilos or extra to afford a greenback. That has led to sharp meals inflation and a surge within the prices of transport and gasoline.
In accordance with estimates by the United Nations Growth Programme, Sudan misplaced $6.4bn of its gross home product (GDP) in 2023 alone: That’s 1 / 4 of the nation’s $26bn GDP that yr. In August, the UN company reported that 90 % of the agrarian nation’s farmers had seen yields drop over the earlier yr.
That financial disaster, Tucker stated, “fuels the demand for gold and willingness of miners to work in poor circumstances” – even when it proves lethal.
