Sudan gold rush leaves toxic legacy as war drives mining

AI desk brief

Sudan’s war is pushing hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians into artisanal gold mining, expanding a largely unregulated sector that now supports an estimated 2 million to 5 million people. The article says artisanal mining accounts for about 80% of Sudan’s gold output, while official 2025 exports reached 14.7 tonnes worth $1.536 billion, underscoring gold’s role as a critical wartime revenue source and livelihood channel.

The supply-side backdrop remains unstable: miners are using mercury and cyanide processing despite health and environmental risks, while airstrikes and raids around the Sudan-Egypt border have killed and displaced miners and disrupted operations. The report highlights rising contamination of water, farmland and groundwater near mining sites, but the desk-relevant takeaway is that conflict is sustaining informal gold production even as it raises operational and geopolitical risks.