By Mary Izuaka

 

The Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) has commiserated with the government and people of Sudan over the mine collapse at an informal gold mine in West Kordofan, which left dozens of artisanal miners dead.

The incident occurred at the Al-Zaraa gold mine near Al-Nuhud town in West Kordofan, Sudan.

In a statement on Thursday, the Chairman of the AMSG, Dele Alake, said the group received the reports of the collapse with profound shock and sorrow.

On behalf of the leadership and member states of the group, Mr Alake extended condolences to the families, loved ones and communities of the miners who lost their lives.

“It is with profound shock, sorrow, and a heavy heart that the Africa Minerals Strategy Group receives the devastating reports of the mine collapse,” Mr Alake said.

Initial reports indicated that dozens of miners died, with many more missing and feared trapped beneath the rubble.

The tragedy, reportedly triggered by the collapse of interconnected shafts in loose terrain, underscores the extreme and perilous conditions faced by millions of informal and artisanal miners across the continent, the AMSG said.

Mr Alake said that while artisanal mining serves as a vital economic lifeline for communities facing conflict and economic hardship, it must never come at the cost of human dignity and safety.

He noted that the absence of structural engineering standards, safety gear and regulatory oversight in remote mining sites creates an unacceptable culture of risk.

He also lamented the constraints on rescue operations, where survivors and local responders rely on rudimentary hand tools due to lack of heavy excavation machinery.

Call to action

The AMSG called for immediate rescue mobilisation, urging that all available regional and local resources be pooled to deploy heavy lifting and excavation equipment to the Al-Zaraa site to accelerate search-and-rescue efforts and provide medical care to survivors.

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The group also urged authorities to prioritise miner safety and accelerate the formalisation of artisanal mining operations across Africa.

“Across Africa, we must accelerate efforts to bring artisanal and informal mining operations into a regulated framework. Governments, regional bodies, and industry stakeholders must cooperate to provide training, basic safety enforcement, and institutional oversight to safeguard workers,” the statement said.

The group said human life must always supersede resource extraction, and that vulnerable workers operating in conflict-affected or politically unstable regions must be protected from preventable hazards.

“The Africa Minerals Strategy Group stands in solidarity with the families grieving in Kordofan and reaffirms our commitment to advocating for policies that ensure African minerals are mined, managed, and processed with dignity, safety, and respect for human life,” Mr Alake added.