Sudan probes livestock deaths from illegal mining chemicals in River Nile state

May 22, Khartoum — Sudan’s Mineral Resources Company said on Friday it has dispatched a technical team to investigate the death of more than 20 sheep in River Nile state after the animals drank from processing pools contaminated with chemicals used in artisanal gold mining.

The company said in a statement that the incident occurred in an area where unregulated artisanal mining and processing activities are taking place in violation of approved environmental and technical standards. The water is suspected to have been contaminated with cyanide and thiourea — chemicals commonly used in gold extraction.

The Sudan Doctors Network had earlier in the day held the Ministry of Minerals and the Mineral Resources Company responsible for what it described as environmental and public health risks arising from the use of hazardous chemicals in artisanal mining, and called for an urgent and transparent investigation and the prosecution of those responsible.

The Mineral Resources Company said a specialised technical team drawn from its environmental safety, waste management, and state affairs departments has been formed to conduct a field assessment of the incident and carry out the necessary technical investigations in coordination with relevant authorities, ahead of taking appropriate legal and technical measures.

The company said its most recent inspection campaign was conducted last week in the Dardaib area of Red Sea state, where violations were found at sites using chemicals outside approved technical and environmental standards, alongside an unlicensed calibration laboratory.

It pledged to keep the public informed of all details related to the incident once the field investigation is complete, and called on all those working in the mining sector to fully comply with environmental and technical requirements and to avoid handling chemicals outside official approved channels.