South Sudan Hopes New Mining Law Will Unearth Treasures
une 01,2013
South Sudan won independence and vast oil reserves in 2011, when it split from civil war foe Sudan. As the rocky relationship with its northern neighbor jeopardizes oil exports, however, the new nation hopes a new mining law will attract foreign companies to unearth its mineral treasures and secure its future fortune. In the country’s “wild east,” thousands of people armed only with picks and pans are hunting for gold.
This “gold mine” in Nanakanak, Eastern Equatoria state, is just one of many spots across South Sudan’s east where a gold rush has hit.
Adele Natogo said that like countless others, she left her nine children and village - an eight-hour walk from Nanakanak - a month ago to sift through the endless piles of terracotta rubble for gold.
“There are so many people that have come here. They are all over the bush, everyone looking for gold. This is a big place,” said Natogo.
But many of the miners say the golden era of finding nuggets is over.
Now they squint at their plastic basins for the tiniest speck of gold and hope machines will arrive soon to help their hunt.
Trader Samuel Kivuva in the nearest town, Kapoeta, said that when foreigners gave metal detectors to artisanal miners last year, their yield more than doubled from 5 kilograms of gold per week.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25