Collected photo

KHARTOUM, Jan 28, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - A partial collapse of a gold mine has 
killed 13 miners and wounded six others in southern Sudan, the state mining 
company said on Wednesday.

The collapse occurred in "five abandoned shafts" of the Umm Fakroun mine in 
South Kordofan state last Friday, the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company 
(SMRC) said in a statement.

Since conflict erupted between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support 
Forces in April 2023, both sides' war efforts have been largely funded by 
Sudan's gold industry, in addition to foreign backers.

"The shafts had been abandoned and shut down, but some miners snuck in and 
were working illegally," the statement said.

The war has devastated Sudan's already fragile economy and left much of the 
country out of work, yet SMRC announced a "five-year high" in production of 
70 tonnes in 2025.

But officials lament that much of the gold is smuggled across borders 
including through Chad, South Sudan and Egypt before reaching the United Arab 
Emirates, the world's second-largest gold exporter.

Of last year's 70 tonnes, only "20 tonnes have been exported through official 
channels", army-aligned Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim told AFP this month.

Africa's third-largest country is one of the continent's top gold producers, 
but artisanal and small-scale gold mining, like Umm Fakroun, accounts for the 
majority of gold extracted.

These mines lack proper safety measures and use hazardous chemicals that 
often cause widespread diseases in nearby areas.

Before the war pushed 25 million Sudanese into acute food insecurity, 
artisanal mining employed more than two million people, according to industry 
figures.

The war has left tens of thousands killed and around 11 million displaced.