Part of Sudan’s gold revenues to be allocated to states

08/08/2017 18:00 KHARTOUM / KADUGLI

The Minister of Minerals intends to allocate a portion of the revenues from gold mining and other minerals to the states, and to provide services to traditional miners who work in harsh and unhealthy environments.

The Minister of Minerals intends to allocate a portion of the revenues from gold mining and other minerals to the states, and to provide services to traditional miners who work in harsh and unhealthy environments.

Announcing the government's intention to allocate the revenues, Minister Hashim Ali said that the National Dialogue conference which concluded last year recommended allocating a portion for those states where national projects are held.

The minister did not reveal the size of this portion, nor the states that would receive it.

South Kordofan mines

Engineer Husham Tawfig Taha, the General Manager of the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company, announced that two mining companies in South Kordofan have entered the production phase. They may produce 150 kilos of gold within two months from now.

In addition ten companies work in the treatment of waste from traditional mining in South Kordofan, Taha said. These companies have called on the government to provide security and prevent possible abuse by the local community against their work.

For more than two years, the National Committee for the Protection of the Environment in South Kordofan is warning for the health and environmental hazards of using highly toxic cyanide to extract gold from ore.

In South Kordofan recently, two people were killed in a clash between groups over a gold extraction site in Abu Jubeiha. Protests against gold extraction plants in several parts of the country have increased, in particularly this year. In northern Sudan, North Kordofan, and North Darfur people took to the streets as well in fear for their health. In March, police was deployed to protect the about 100 cyanidation plants in South Kordofan after angry people torched parts of a gold extraction factory in Talodi.

Meanwhile gold has been the main source of income in Sudan since it became an oil importer when South Sudan seceded in 2011. A large part of the gold in Sudan is produced by traditional mining, carried out by individuals and locals.