Sudan has doubled gold output in 2021 despite a clamp down on gold smuggling. This is according to Al-Sadig Al-Haj, head of planning and research at Sudanese Mineral Resources Company.
The North African nation recorded production of 30.3 tons between January and the end of June, compared with 15.6 tons in the same period the year before. It pocketed US $86million from gold in the in the first half of 2021 and targets 104 billion pounds from a total of 100 tons by the end of the year. Al-Haj attributed the rise to “strong measures” imposed by the mineral ministry and other state institutions to prevent illicit cross-border trade.
Gold smuggling
Gold smuggling and illegal mining of the metal are rampant throughout Africa. Metalor, one of the world’s largest gold refiners developed technology that would enable it to better identify metal that had been illegally mined.
The technology takes a sample of gold from a mine or supplier and creates a complex chemical and physical blueprint against which subsequent shipments can be checked,. Gold worth billions of dollars is smuggled out of Africa annually through the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to a 2019 Reuters report. Citing customs data, Reuters said the UAE imported US $15.1billion in gold from Africa in 2016, but a large portion of that gold supply was not recorded in the exports of African states.
