Earth is a violent paradise. (Ryszard Kapuscinski)
Sudanese 21st Century Chronology
2003
Conflicts over land ownership have always been the cause of violent clashes between nomads and farmers in the Sahel. They are escalating in 2003 in Darfur when black African ethnic groups, in particular the Masalit and the Fur (see map), are revolting against their discrimination and abandonment by the regime of Omar al Bashir. However, the latter equips local Arabs - the Janjarweed - in order to crush the uprising. Mounted, armed militia are killing civilians and displacing millions. A prominent Janjaweed leader is general Mohamed Hamdan Dogolo alias Hemetti who will later transform the Janjarweed into a paramilitary organization, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). [1]
2011
South-Sudan splits off Sudan, the latter looses a major part of one its main income sources: raw oil.
2012
While artisanal gold mines have been operating in Sudan for thousands of years—mainly outside Darfur—it's the discovery and exploitation of the Jebel Amir deposit in North Darfur which will largely contribute to compensate for the lost oil revenues. In November 2017 Jebel Amir was taken by Hemetti's RSF.
2019
As a result of the uprisings in 2018, Omar al Bashir's thirty-year lasting dictatorship and his Islamist regime comes to an end with a transition phase agreed upon by the military and civilians. At that time and the following period the RSF and the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) are cooperating in their efforts to purge state agencies, in particular police and intelligence services of supporters of the old regime.
2021
In the fall of 2021, the military, led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, is detaining civilian leaders at all levels.
2023
As a result of a reform effort envisaging the integration of the RSF into the SAF, an attempted coup against Al-Burhan is carried out by RSF forces that invaded the capital. From now on confrontations between SAF and RSF are escalating into open warfare, aiming for control of the entire country and economy.
2025-10-26
The RSF announces the seizure of El Fashir, the last city held by the Sudanese army in Darfur (see map). Witness statements, videos and analysed satellite images are pointing to displacement and mass executions.
[1] The naming RSF is reflecting the intention of the regime to have a support in two ways. Control of remote parts of the country and to have a kind of assurance in case of a coup attempt from the actual army. Since the fifties, Sudan's history has been a series of coups.
Conflicts over land ownership have always been the cause of violent clashes between nomads and farmers in the Sahel. They are escalating in 2003 in Darfur when black African ethnic groups, in particular the Masalit and the Fur (see map), are revolting against their discrimination and abandonment by the regime of Omar al Bashir. However, the latter equips local Arabs - the Janjarweed - in order to crush the uprising. Mounted, armed militia are killing civilians and displacing millions. A prominent Janjaweed leader is general Mohamed Hamdan Dogolo alias Hemetti who will later transform the Janjarweed into a paramilitary organization, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). [1]
2011
South-Sudan splits off Sudan, the latter looses a major part of one its main income sources: raw oil.
2012
While artisanal gold mines have been operating in Sudan for thousands of years—mainly outside Darfur—it's the discovery and exploitation of the Jebel Amir deposit in North Darfur which will largely contribute to compensate for the lost oil revenues. In November 2017 Jebel Amir was taken by Hemetti's RSF.
2019
As a result of the uprisings in 2018, Omar al Bashir's thirty-year lasting dictatorship and his Islamist regime comes to an end with a transition phase agreed upon by the military and civilians. At that time and the following period the RSF and the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) are cooperating in their efforts to purge state agencies, in particular police and intelligence services of supporters of the old regime.
2021
In the fall of 2021, the military, led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, is detaining civilian leaders at all levels.
2023
As a result of a reform effort envisaging the integration of the RSF into the SAF, an attempted coup against Al-Burhan is carried out by RSF forces that invaded the capital. From now on confrontations between SAF and RSF are escalating into open warfare, aiming for control of the entire country and economy.
2025-10-26
The RSF announces the seizure of El Fashir, the last city held by the Sudanese army in Darfur (see map). Witness statements, videos and analysed satellite images are pointing to displacement and mass executions.
[1] The naming RSF is reflecting the intention of the regime to have a support in two ways. Control of remote parts of the country and to have a kind of assurance in case of a coup attempt from the actual army. Since the fifties, Sudan's history has been a series of coups.
Gold Price history and trends
Averaged annual gold-US dollar exchange rates (HHB).
Gold Mining in Sudan
Gold is mined in artisanal and small scale mines throughout the Sahel region and Sudan. This causes massive environmental damage and human casualties due to accidents in the mines and the effects of toxic chemicals used in gold extraction.
Yields are rather low due to primitive techniques and although the deposits in Jebel Amir have only an average gold concentration (higher than in West Africa, lower than in individual mines east of the Nile), the mine in northern Darfur contributes up to a quarter of Sudan's total gold yield which peaked around 110 tons before 2022 and declined to 42 tons in 2023 and 64 tons in 2024 due to the armed conflict in Darfur (for comparison approx. 200 tons from the whole Sahel).
International Development Policy, 7.1 (2016)
The Journal of Social Encounters, Vol.8, Iss.2, 20-34 (2024)
Al Arab Journal, London, 2025-02-25 (with English translation)
Sudan’s Gold Production: In the Midst of a Devastating War, DARFUR24 (2025-05-20)
Yields are rather low due to primitive techniques and although the deposits in Jebel Amir have only an average gold concentration (higher than in West Africa, lower than in individual mines east of the Nile), the mine in northern Darfur contributes up to a quarter of Sudan's total gold yield which peaked around 110 tons before 2022 and declined to 42 tons in 2023 and 64 tons in 2024 due to the armed conflict in Darfur (for comparison approx. 200 tons from the whole Sahel).
International Development Policy, 7.1 (2016)
The Journal of Social Encounters, Vol.8, Iss.2, 20-34 (2024)
Al Arab Journal, London, 2025-02-25 (with English translation)
Sudan’s Gold Production: In the Midst of a Devastating War, DARFUR24 (2025-05-20)
A Neglected and Ignored Proxy War Fueled by Financial Crises in the Western Hemisphere? Nothing has anything to do with anything ...
The rivalries and resulting conflicts between the SAF and the SRF have escalated over the years with increasing intensity, involving the use of costly and destructive military technology such as drones. It is therefore worth taking a look at the international level. During the US sanctions against Sudan - because of their support of the Janjaweed - Russian companies became active in gold mining in Sudan. After the sanctions were lifted in October 2017 the regime attempted to attract foreign investors. This was accompanied by land confiscations throughout the country. This, in conjunction with deadly protests of the rural population, led to the uprisings of 2018 and the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
However, in the ensuing conflict between the SAF and the RSF, the latter are supported by the UAE, in particular Abu Dhabi, as well as by Russia, not least with Wagner troops on the ground. On the other side, the SAF regime of Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has been backed by Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Qatar, Eritrea and Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers have been deployed to target Russians that are fighting for RSF in Sudan while an odyssey-like delivery of NATO weapons to Ukraine (via Azerbaijan, Turkey, Sudan) has been reported.
What are the motivations for all these actors to engage in Sudan? Strategic interests, economic desires, samaritan missions, historical ties, mutual engagements (RSF is operating in Libya and Yemen)? To prevent Islamists to gain ground? Or simply because a rival is already involved?
However, in the ensuing conflict between the SAF and the RSF, the latter are supported by the UAE, in particular Abu Dhabi, as well as by Russia, not least with Wagner troops on the ground. On the other side, the SAF regime of Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has been backed by Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Qatar, Eritrea and Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers have been deployed to target Russians that are fighting for RSF in Sudan while an odyssey-like delivery of NATO weapons to Ukraine (via Azerbaijan, Turkey, Sudan) has been reported.
What are the motivations for all these actors to engage in Sudan? Strategic interests, economic desires, samaritan missions, historical ties, mutual engagements (RSF is operating in Libya and Yemen)? To prevent Islamists to gain ground? Or simply because a rival is already involved?
This page is intended to give a rough summary of the events in Sudan. It will certainly not correspond exactly to the real, probably much more complex situation. The temporal correlation between surging gold prices and the intensification of the fighting in Sudan doesn't reflect a singular causality, not least because a huge part of the gold is leaving the country by trafficking. Nevertheless, without such large quantities of increasingly valuable precious metal the formation of two highly armed armies with tens of thousands of soldiers in one of the poorest countries would have been impossible.
It should be noted that multiple crises in Western countries - social crises (migration, aging societies), energy crises, decreasing industrial competitiveness - have led to over-indebted state budgets and thus a vanishing confidence in FIAT money. Consequently, sharply rising gold (and Bitcoin) rates are supporting bellicist countries whose budgets are largely based on the trade in gold.
Finally, another important fact concealed in most Western mainstream media is the abusive use of EUR/USD, sent to Ukraine and flowing into corruption as well as Sudan. In other words Western tax payers are indirectly and unintentionally financing this ignored war.
A long travel report worth reading from Anne Applebaum and Lynsey Addario appeared in the journal The Atlantic in September 2025:
THE MOST NIHILISTIC CONFLICT ON EARTH
It should be noted that multiple crises in Western countries - social crises (migration, aging societies), energy crises, decreasing industrial competitiveness - have led to over-indebted state budgets and thus a vanishing confidence in FIAT money. Consequently, sharply rising gold (and Bitcoin) rates are supporting bellicist countries whose budgets are largely based on the trade in gold.
Finally, another important fact concealed in most Western mainstream media is the abusive use of EUR/USD, sent to Ukraine and flowing into corruption as well as Sudan. In other words Western tax payers are indirectly and unintentionally financing this ignored war.
A long travel report worth reading from Anne Applebaum and Lynsey Addario appeared in the journal The Atlantic in September 2025:
THE MOST NIHILISTIC CONFLICT ON EARTH
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GROK animated photograph (HHB)