Sudan Ministry: Overall gold production grew by 3%

The gold production in the first quarter of this year totalled 22.3 tons, an increase compared to the same period last year, according to Sudan's Ministry of Minerals.

A report on the performance of the Ministry disclosed that the gold production increased by three percent in comparison to the first quarter of 2015. Under-secretary of the Ministry, Najimeldin Daoud, reviewed the report in a meeting on Tuesday.

The production of mining companies amounted to 3.4 tons, the report found, which produced 3.7 tons in the same period last year.

The total gold production of traditional miners reached 18.9 tons compared to 17.9 in the past year. The gold production in the first quarter of 2016 shows an increase of just over 3 percent from 21.6 tons last year.

The report lauded the Ministry for the improvement in tightening the control and supervision on the mining sector.

It further completed infrastructure regulations following the implementation of the Mineral Resources Development Act of 2015, according to the report. The act includes the deployment of observers who coordinate with the mineral police.

Main income

The first two quarters of 2015 witnessed a gold production of 43 tons. The production in the same period in 2014 was about 31 tons, according to the Ministry.

Last September, Minerals Minister Ahmed El Karori announced that the country’s gold production amounted to 54 tons in the first eight months of the year. At a market price of $35,579 per ton, the production value would be close to $1.9 billion.

Gold has been the main source of income in Sudan since it became an oil importer when South Sudan seceded in 2011. In March 2015 El Karori predicted that gold production would grow to 100 tons in 2016. A number of mining companies began to gradually enter the production phase at the time.

The Minerals Minister pointed to the fact that most of the gold was produced by traditional mining, carried out by individuals and locals. Traditional gold mining increased significantly during the first half of 2015. 

This month it became clear that a UN Security Council (UNSC) panel report links Sudanese militia leader Musa Hilal to vast gold sales in Darfur, but publication has been put on hold by member state Russia. The panel’s report claims that the gold trade has put more than $123 million into the pockets of armed groups throughout Darfur, in addition to Hilal’s earnings. Hilal's military commanders have taken control of the Jebel ‘Amer gold mining area in El Sareif Beni Hussein locality.

Russia seeks to redact these paragraphs.

(Source: Sudan News Agency)