Gold fever hits South Sudan - BDlive

LEER Likuam boasted that he once found a 200g gold nugget bigger than his thumb.

In Nanakanak, a village of stick huts in an area that has attracted hundreds of diggers since Sudan's civil war ended in 2005, Likuam's find would have been lucrative but unexceptional.

On an average day he might dig up 6g , worth around $270 , he said. Word of Nanakanak's riches has spread.

Officials say companies from China, Australia, the US, South Africa and other African countries plan to apply for licences when new mining laws are passed later this month.

On the international market, Likuam's prize lump would fetch $11000, an enormous sum in a country where the average teacher earns just $90, a month.

Miners sell the gold for around $46 a gram, leaving traders a narrow profit margin for resale on the international market at $55.

Officials hope a new mining law will bring this trade out of the black market. - Reuters

* This article was first published in Sunday Times: Business Times