Record-high global gold prices are accelerating mining activity in Sudan, providing a vital financial lifeline to the country’s warring factions and prolonging a devastating civil conflict, according to reports cited by the Financial Times.
Gold production in Sudan surged to its highest level in six years in 2024, reaching an estimated 80 tonnes—valued at over $6 billion—according to new research from NGOs Swissaid and the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS). This boom has been driven largely by a rise in artisanal mining and easy access to imported chemicals, despite the ongoing civil war that erupted in April 2023.
More than half of Sudan’s gold output is smuggled abroad, particularly to countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Russia. The fight for control of these valuable resources has become a central driver of the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemeti.
“When the war started, the whole mining sector almost ground to a halt,” said Yvan Schulz, programme officer at Swissaid. “But production has recovered rapidly and is now a crucial funding source for both sides.”
According to UN figures, over 150,000 people have been killed and more than 12 million displaced since the conflict began, with the UN warning of an impending famine. Analysts say the gold industry, while providing livelihoods for up to a million Sudanese, is ultimately enabling the war economy.
Ahmed Soliman, senior Africa research fellow at Chatham House, remarked, “Those resources are being extracted to destroy the country, to import arms, and are helping the warring parties tear Sudan apart.”
Gold has been Sudan’s top export since South Sudan’s secession in 2011 deprived Khartoum of most of its oil income. The industry now accounts for 60% of export earnings in SAF-controlled areas, according to the country’s mining ministry.
Despite limited international sanctions, including measures by the U.S. on a UAE-based gold trader, the sector continues to thrive. C4ADS highlighted the role of supply chains in sustaining production, noting that Sudan imports key mining chemicals like sodium cyanide and mercury from countries including China, the UAE, and Germany.
“Minerals are a growing but under-addressed pressure point,” said Denise Sprimont-Vasquez, programme director at C4ADS. She argued that targeting the import supply chain of such precursor chemicals could disrupt the warring factions’ ability to sustain gold extraction.
In Darfur, the Sungo mining area—controlled by Al Junaid, a company tied to Hemeti’s family—remains a major RSF revenue source despite being under U.S. sanctions. Meanwhile, at least six large-scale mines continue operating under SAF control in northern Sudan.
Sasha Lezhnev of The Sentry, a U.S.-based non-profit, noted: “There has been a gold rush in regions where gold is mined illegally or illicitly—including Sudan. It’s relatively easy to smuggle the gold, and it almost exclusively ends up in the UAE.”
The civil war has intensified this year. The SAF, bolstered by Islamist militias and Turkish drone support, recaptured large swaths of territory, including the capital Khartoum. In response, the RSF has launched attacks using Chinese-made drones allegedly provided by UAE-based backers, targeting key infrastructure in Port Sudan and other regions.
Soliman stressed the need for a coordinated international approach to address “conflict gold,” warning that ad hoc sanctions are insufficient. “The networks controlling Sudan’s gold trade are deeply entrenched and militarized,” he said. “Creating greater visibility and understanding of these networks—and targeting them systematically—must be a priority.”
Both the SAF and RSF declined to comment on the reports. As gold continues to shine in global markets, it casts a long, dark shadow over Sudan’s deepening humanitarian and political crisis.
