DAGALO MAHAS, Sudan (AP) — The men carried metal detectors as they scanned a mountainous area in northern Sudan in search of gold. One man knelt to examine the ground with a digging tool for the precious metal in an environment that lacks even the most basic safety measures.
They are unregulated miners working in a small-scale private gold mine in the northern town of Dalgo Mahas. The mine is one of thousands of small-scale and artisanal mines scattered across Sudan, part of a sector that is at the center of the devastating war that has at times pushed parts of the country into famine.
Gold has become a major source of funding for Sudan's treasury after the country lost over two-thirds of its oil revenues with the secession of South Sudan in 2011. The precious metal accounted for 70% of national revenues in the years that followed South Sudan's departure, providing the Sudanese government with much-needed foreign currency.
