Sudanese gold rush
Foreign firms are competing for access to gold deposits in war torn Sudan. Mining companies are hopeful that Sudan holds a large amount of untapped gold reserves, while the government is desperate to find new revenue streams following the secession of South Sudan in 2011, which led to the loss of around three quarters of its oil reserves and a fifth of its population. Gold exports reached US$2.2bn last year and the government recently issued a whole series of new exploration licences. Firms from Asia, the Arabian Gulf and Russia are willing to stake their claims at present but a lot depends on how the government can resolve the many conflicts that are on-going within and across its borders.