Informal mining for gold in River Nile state of Sudan under threat

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Many classical miners asserted their fear of being subjected to imprisonment after the issuance of a new law concerning general mining in 2015.

Many classical miners asserted their fear of being subjected to imprisonment after the issuance of a new law concerning general mining in 2015. Some of them pointed out they will have to give up mining as soon as the new law is applied. These workers point to their worst economic situations, the very matter that led them to take the risks of underground mining in the first place. They turned to the dangerous job of mining in order to seek a means of subsistence after suffering from unemployment and limited opportunities of self-employment. Some of them had to leave school due to poverty, in order to seek a livelihood.

Some of them disclosed a lack of essential services at the mining locations such as health care, safety, and other issues. They also complained of the high tolls for a license to mine as provided in the new law which amounts to 10,000 Sudanese pounds (US$2,000) in addition to other taxes and levies imposed by the locality.

The parliament passed a law last January concerning mining which included some penalties, among them imprisonment for up to five years and punishing whoever does not possess a license for mining or refrains from providing correct information about the amount of gold he has extracted.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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