Ahmad 
Sudan’s Minister of Minerals, Mohamed Bashir Abdullah (INMO), announced that the ministry contributed more than 60% of the country’s total exports for the first quarter of this year.
He said that the export revenues of gold and other minerals exceeded $ 600 million since the beginning of this year until mid-May.
He added, in a press interview with the local radio “Biladi” published on his account in “Facebook”, that “60% is considered unrealistic were it not for the current circumstance, given that most of the country’s exports are suspended as a result of the war. Fortunately, we in the Ministry of Minerals were able to increase the production and export of gold despite the conditions of the war.”
He continued: “Contacts have been made with producers and investors in this field to urge them to return and start production, as the ministry’s pledges contributed to providing security in coordination with the regular agencies.”
Abdullah explained: “The result of these achievements was reflected in production, as the total production of gold since the beginning of 2024 until mid-May reached 17 tons, an increase of 190% of the total production for the first quarter of 2023.”
Regarding the extent of the damage suffered by the Ministry of Minerals from the war, like other ministries and public utilities, Abdullah stressed that the war negatively affected the Ministry of Minerals, as it lost its headquarters in Khartoum and all western states were out of service (in Kordofan and Darfur) with an almost complete loss of assets and movement.
The Sudanese minister considered that “the total cost of priority is estimated at about $ 4 billion. The largest and most important part of the information that was burned is the central library (the library of the General Authority for Geological Research), which is difficult to retrieve.”
“The most important achievements in the mining sector since the beginning of this year lie in convincing most foreign companies, especially producers, to return to the country and engage in production,” the Sudanese Minister of Minerals said.
In a related context, Abdullah explained that “what is rumored about the transfer of the gold refinery to Qatar is not true, and there is no such step at all, as well as what was rumored about an agreement to establish a refinery in one of the brotherly countries is not true.”
He stressed that there is “sovereign approval for the establishment of the gold refinery with the latest technologies in the field, and arrangements are now underway to urge the certifiers to receive the land in order to complete the civil preparations for the construction of the refinery buildings in preparation for their installation soon.”
The United Nations calls for an emergency Security Council session due to tensions between Sudan and the UAE