Sudanese Minister of Natural Resources Mohamed Bashir Abdullah Mennawi, in an interview with Sputnik, explained the gold production situation in his war-torn country over the past three months.
"All mining projects and gold factories are located far from Khartoum, where the war is raging, so most ongoing projects and factories remain intact, including the largest company, which ranks first in gold production in Sudan, Alliance For Mining co. Ltd. Russian companies in Sudan have not been affected either," he said.
The minister added that the ongoing conflict could disrupt mines in the western part of the country, but even before the conflict, their share of the country's total gold production was insignificant.
Conflict in Sudan
On April 15, clashes broke out between the Sudanese army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Bourhan, the head of the country's transitional authority, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The epicenter of the clashes was the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
Since then, fighting has spread to the western region of Darfur, despite a series of ceasefires and efforts by the international community to bring peace.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that there are approximately 2.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan and nearly 700,000 Sudanese refugees in neighboring countries.