Protest against cyanide stops gold mine in South Kordofan

Hundreds of residents of Kologi, Talodi locality, protested in front of the locality's headquarters and the security service office against a gold mining factory that uses environmentally hazardous cyanide to extract gold on Thursday.

One of the demonstrators told Radio Dabanga that the Commissioner of Kalogi, Hassan Ahmad Badawi, immediately responded to their demands to close the gold mining factory. A group of demonstrators went to the factory in El Humeit to convey the decision of the local security committee to shut down the complex.

The protester praised the role of the native administration and the residents of Kologi to press for the closure. Meanwhile Ahmed Mukhtar, the secretary-general of the group of activists against harmful gold mining, told Radio Dabanga he hopes that similar demonstrations will take place in all localities in South Korodfan where factories are established.

“The use of cyanide has harmful effects on human beings and the environment.”

Companies which allegedly also use cyanide in the gold extraction process have increased their activities in several parts of South Kordofan, according to the committee for environmental advocacy. In El Goz, environmental activists have been detained for informing people about the hazards of cyanide.

In January, however, Sudan's Northern state government withdrew the permit of a mining company, for establishing a factory that would extract gold with toxic chemicals, following popular protests.