BOWL OF PLENTY: A Toposa woman pans for gold in the Singaita River in Namorinyang, South Sudan. Ordinary people have been extracting gold from artisanal mines and taking part in as-yet unregulated trade in the precious metal. But now the new South Sudan government hopes to pass mining legislation that will formalise the industry, letting it tax precious metal and mineral exports and sell concessions to large-scale investors. Picture: REUTERS
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
...
BOWL OF PLENTY: A Toposa woman pans for gold in the Singaita River in Namorinyang, South Sudan. Ordinary people have been extracting gold from artisanal mines and taking part in as-yet unregulated trade in the precious metal. But now the new South Sudan government hopes to pass mining legislation that will formalise the industry, letting it tax precious metal and mineral exports and sell concessions to large-scale investors. Picture: REUTERS
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
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