In Al-Tadamun locality, gold is more than mere luck; it has become a mechanism of ruin. Companies that once halted operations because of local opposition now work through individuals; the kartah “the rocky or soil-based material that contains gold ore and often represents the residue left after primary mining operations” is guarded by armed men, and cyanide is dissolved into spoil, threatening water in the pits, people’s lives, soil and livestock.
Al-Tadamun is one of 19 localities in South Kordofan. It sits in the northeastern part of the state along the White Nile and borders South Sudan, with its administrative centre in At-Tartar. Traditionally agricultural, community mining began in early 2004, an activist told Atar anonymously. Gold was then extracted with mercury until firms like the International Company and Leha Company formalised production in 2014. The locality hosts at least fifteen gold mines, the best-known being Al-Jaghrour, Sufura, Ighibish and I’our.
According to the activist, these companies recovered gold from mining leftovers—the “kartah”—using toxic cyanide, severely contaminating the soil. Because the mines lie in mountainous areas near valleys, seasonal rains wash the polluted mud downstream; people and animals drink from it, and farmland is ruined.
Security forces used heavy machine guns, and some residents still keep the spent shell casings as mementos of the day they tried to reclaim their right to a decent, healthy life.
In 2018, residents noticed their animals dying and their land being damaged, so they protested against mining companies operating a few kilometres away. They demanded chemical decontamination. They insisted on rehabilitation of water sources, riverbanks and farmland, warning that contamination would erode livelihoods and public health for years. But security forces used heavy “DShK” machine guns, and some still keep spent shell casings as mementos of the day they tried to reclaim their right to a decent, healthy life, the activist said.
In 2019, the residents rallied again toward the “Al-Jaghrour” area, besieging the mine run by the International Company and escorting the company manager to the “Wakra” administrative unit, where a meeting with social leaders from Al-Tadamun compelled the company to sign a document ordering an immediate halt and evacuation. The document stipulated an immediate cessation of all extraction activities, a withdrawal timetable and handover procedures for equipment to local authorities. Citizens seized its machinery and vehicles on site.
Governor Rashad Abdelhamid Ismail issued a directive suspending mining operations and securing assets pending investigation, and ordered security guards at company sites. The directive named an interim oversight committee and called for forensic environmental sampling.
Although companies formally halted operations, years of earlier extraction continue to cast a long shadow over residents. Firms have shifted to artisanal miners extracting gold from “kartah.” Residents report new illnesses near the mines, including cancers and birth defects.
According to the activist who spoke to Atar, residents petitioned state governor Hamid al-Bashir Ibrahim during the transitional administration to commission an independent environmental impact study by a neutral “expert house.” The Russian firm Katcha conducted the study, but the state government suppressed the findings. Resistance Committee members, accompanied by citizens, went to the Sudanese Company for Mineral Resources to demand the report; the company denied any study.
We held seminars and protest vigils, and as a result achieved some victories: the governor at the time ordered a halt to mining activities in the state.
activist Khalid Qarshi
Speaking to Atar, Khalid Qarshi, an environmental and climate activist in Al-Tadamun, said: “After we became aware of the dangers of unsafe mining, other young people and I in Leri, Qadeer, Abu Jabiha and other affected areas organised a broad civic campaign focused on awareness. We held seminars and protest vigils, and as a result achieved some victories: the governor at the time ordered a halt to mining activities in the state immediately.”
But according to multiple sources who spoke to Atar, mining resumed in Al-Tadamun after the war began on 15 April 2023, carried out by armed individuals who buy mining waste, dig ponds and add cyanide. They extract between four and five kilograms and then dump the residue. This happens often in places like Sufura, where there are over two hundred cyanide-mixed ponds just 40 metres from groundwater wells and public thoroughfares.
In May, some residents went to the commander of the Tenth Brigade in Abu Jabiha, the highest local authority, to raise concerns about mining damage. He promised to send forces to stop the practice, only for residents to later learn the miners were communicating with him. A local who follows the issue told Atar that birds have vanished from Sufura’s skies and many animals died after drinking seepage from the ponds.
In just two years, I recorded more than 1,500 miscarriages and over 55 congenital defects in newborns—only two infants survived.
Dr. Al-Mahi Hassan (pseudonym)
From 2016 to 2018, Dr Al-Mahi Hassan, a pseudonym for security reasons, recorded congenital anomalies and miscarriages in the state. Hassan, who worked at a government hospital in Al-Tadamun, told Atar he documented more than 55 congenital defects in newborns over two years, coinciding with a period when mining companies used cyanide to extract gold.
He said deformities are widespread across much of Al-Tadamun and that the furthest point from a mine to residential areas is 21 kilometres. The doctor noted the most common defect he observed was neural tube defects, infants born without a clear head or with an exposed spine. He described all 55 cases as severe; only two infants survived. He suspected cyanide contamination as the main cause and said none of the affected families had a history of such conditions. He added these cases surged in 2016.
He also signalled a worrying rise in miscarriages, most caused by fetal abnormalities. In two years, the doctor recorded more than 1,500 miscarriages in Al-Tadamun. He added that the last fetal deformity he documented occurred months ago, at a time when no one is systematically recording what is happening. Residents and local activists say the lack of documentation and accountability leaves communities vulnerable and demanding independent studies, remediation, justice for victims, and reparations for affected livelihoods.
Because no reliable studies yet link cyanide exposure to birth defects, due to the difficulty of measuring absorbed doses precisely, the doctor recommends halting work at postwar cyanide ponds immediately, conducting radiological surveys of affected areas, and carrying out research and tests to prove with concrete evidence that cyanide is the cause, to avert as many risks as possible that have become a lived reality.
Mining could have offered many benefits if conducted without environmental or health harms to people, livestock and crops.
Mahmoud, resident of Al-Tadamun
Khalid Qarshi says arrests and repression still target young people opposing mining, whether formal or informal, and that the postwar state has sown internal clashes among South Kordofan residents while tacitly backing mining under the guise of supporting the war effort, branding anyone who opposes it as a supporter of the Rapid Support Forces or other charges.
But Mahmoud, a resident of Al-Tadamun, says mining could have offered many benefits if conducted without environmental or health harms to people, livestock and crops. He says his role is to oppose pollution and damage by legal, peaceful means, as he did before when he joined protests to protect his family, property and community and challenged the companies.
