KHARTOUM/ABU JUBAYHAH, Sudan — A partial collapse at an artisanal gold mine in Sudan’s South Kordofan State has killed 13 miners and injured six others, the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company (SMRC) said Wednesday, underscoring the persistent safety risks in informal mining sites that have become increasingly important to a war-battered economy.
SMRC said the incident occurred last Friday in five abandoned shafts at the Umm Fakroun mine area. The company noted the shafts had been “officially closed,” but miners allegedly entered them illegally.
The deaths add to mounting concerns over weak regulation and hazardous working conditions in Sudan’s largely small-scale gold sector. Artisanal sites often operate with little oversight, limited ventilation and unstable pit walls, making collapses a recurring threat.
Gold has also taken on sharper strategic value since war erupted in April 2023 between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Analysts and officials say both sides have leaned on gold revenues — alongside external backing — to sustain military operations, as formal state income sources have shrunk.
Despite the conflict, Sudan’s gold output rose to about 70 tonnes in 2025, its highest level in five years, according to Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim. But only around 20 tonnes were exported through official channels last year, he said, pointing to pervasive smuggling that drains the state of foreign-currency earnings.
Industry and government accounts say large volumes of Sudanese gold are trafficked across borders — including routes through Chad, South Sudan and Egypt — before reaching global trading hubs such as the United Arab Emirates.
Before the war, artisanal mining provided income for millions; the conflict has since deepened humanitarian pressures, with vast displacement and widespread food insecurity reported nationwide.
SMRC did not immediately announce sanctions or new safety measures, but the latest fatalities are likely to intensify calls for tighter enforcement around sealed shafts and improved safeguards at informal mining sites — a difficult task in a region where insecurity and economic desperation continue to push workers toward high-risk pits.
