“Per week they were collecting 12 kilograms of this gold and at least they were performing, not in the way of these people that use basins and whatever,” said Kivuva.

At the Ministry of Mines in Juba, undersecretary of mining Andu Ezbon Adde said the government suspended previous small-scale mining licenses while putting the finishing touches to a mining law aimed at pulling in big investors - and big money - to extract the gold, copper, iron ore and other metals thought to lie under the eastern region.

“Coming out of war, things were not well organized. Giving out the licenses was not well organized, so the government decided to stop any exploration work until the law has been signed. Now the law has been signed we are working on now what they call regulations, which may not be clear to the common man. So I’m sure that this year, we will be giving out licenses,” said Adde.

But until machines arrive to replace the picks and pans, farmers-turned-panners in this impoverished and drought-stricken region are tasked with uncovering the minerals that in years to come could wean the new nation off its dependency on oil revenue.