SUDAN

[tmcmark]

Hello everyone

I need some help, I am British and temporarily moving to Sudan, Specifically for a GOLD adventure!

I will include a little information which might help regarding your valued and needed input.

I have hundreds of Sudanese friends and several officials who treat me as family,
and I have no problem obtaining permissions and licences in several states. I have
been several times and been welcomed with opened arms on each occasion.
I have no fear or paranoia whatsoever regarding my safety and I never have.

I will be working together with 3 of my very closes friends of 20 years who are Sudanese
and also several of each of there family members as local labour, on a commission basis

My friends have not been a part of the gold rush there in anyway, though they are up
for a good adventure.

I would much appreciate any input regarding where should I begin!!!

I was considering 3 minelab 5000 and 3 keane 151 drywashers and 3 spiral wheels
and starting to explore in the north where 2 of my friends are from.
I have a $25,000 budget for equipment, to start the adventure.

Im a complete newby and any input is appreciated


Thanks in advance
Mark

 

[Alex Burke]

So you can get permission anywhere in Sudan or just a certain area? I would budget for at least 4 assault rifles, get 1 whites tdi detector and some recirculating sluices and drywasher or two, I've personally researched mining abroad and shipping equipment safely is expensive and everything gets dicey once it lands in that country. It sounds crazy as there are 100's of roaming tribes and armed gangs. I wish you luck though I just think security and the constant issues related are not worth the location. Try getting in touch with Gelmac maybe pm him.http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/gold-prospecting/330974-new-gold-rush-northern-sudan.html

 

[Mackaydon]

Which Sudan are you moving to North or South?

 

[Alex Burke]

Mark, I found these articles in a brief search, some things to consider:
allAfrica.com: InFocus » Sudan: Pro-Government Militia Attacks Gold Miners
allAfrica.com: Sudan: Pro-Government Militia Raids Goldmine in Central Darfur
allAfrica.com: Sudan: Another Gold Miner Killed in North Darfur
400 people killed in violence in january and feb according to this article:

Dozens Dead in Darfur Mine Accident - WSJ.com
"Jebel Amir hosts dozens of gold mines, which produce some 15 metric tons of gold each year, representing 30% of the country's total gold output,according to data from the minerals ministry.

Civil war, tribal violence and U.S. sanctions on the Sudanese government have prevented large-scale investments in Darfur, leaving the gold-mining sector to small companies who often operate using hand-held tools in unsafe pits prone to accidents.

Jebel Amir was a scene of deadly clashes between rival Arab tribal war lords over lucrative gold-mining areas in January and February. More than 400 people were killed in the clashes, which also displaced around 100,000 people, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs."

Also consider the exchange rate and how you are going to convert the gold into euro's or dollars and the margins you will have to overcome with the currency and of course getting your profits out of the country. Are they using the South Sudanese pounds everywhere in Sudan? I think maybe Mackeydon was alluding to this. Even if it's the pound not the pitiful dinar your still going to be lucky to get paid 3 or 400 euro's in country per ounce? Inflation can have benefits if you were building a business in country (buying equipment and property) but nobody is paying spot price in the African desert. If you really want an African adventure I would fly to Lungi, Sierra Leone wear a kevlar vest, hire a guide/bodyguard/interpreter/driver head to a city east of there called Kenema, buy a huge diamond for the 20k you have left, then if your still alive smuggle it out of the continent and profit 300k lol. This sounds slightly safer than Sudan but IDK really. For the record I'm not adverse to leaving the country to mine gold, even in slightly dangerous places, see my sig lol, I just think there's some less dangerous places to go. Despite my sarcasm I do wish you good luck either way, Alex

 

[tmcmark]

Thanks for the input, I am aware of the points you have made. I will be in the north of Sudan in safe areas where conflicts have not taken place. I work with several government ministers from different sectors and I am privy to certain helpful information. I am in safe hands, and security is not a risk in the ares where we will be prospecting. I have visited these places several times, also the family members I will be with are from, shall we say a very dominant and absolute respected tribe.

 

[tmcmark]

The desert area where we will be starting has produced huge amiunts of nuggets over the past 5 years. Though the area is litterally barron now and everyone as moved on to othet areas. No one has even tried recovering fine gold whatsoever in our locations of interest, in fact very little recovery of fine gold in the majority of the deserts has been done. I believe the interest was for only nuggets. The deserts are vast and desolate and hold huge amounts of fine gold as well as lots more undiscovered nuggets.

 

[jcazgoldchaser]

From reading forums, I was given the impression the 151 would handle a crew of 3 or so. So unless you're talking 3 persons in different locations, having and hauling the extra gear may be pointless. Unless you're talking a front end loader and ganging 3 keanes together.

You'll still need standard pans, shovels, buckets / wheelbarrows...

 

[Mackaydon]

I, too, am envious of the adventure you are about to depart upon; notwithstanding, I'd include night-goggles in my travel bag.
Don........

 

[gold tramp]

Just take some locals who would be glad for the work, and a battery of hand cranks.

they are easy to move don't require any fuel, have very few moving parts so sands are not an issue. no taking apart and reassemble for every move you just pick them up and move one piece.

they will recover fine gold very well, no need for high teck, it just comes with high tek break downs.

Get out there and get the gold, be safe and good luck.....

 

[Alex Burke]

Kind of a longshot but there is tons of water beneath the surface if you could somehow finance a well being drilled when you find a good spot, I think it would cost very roughly about 6k US dollars from a little research I did. Or if you could convince the govt to invest in drilling for water they could irrigate farmland etc. Maybe you could facilitate a charity helping the government get a drilling truck via crowdsourcing (little ones fit in a shipping container) and everyone in your area would have water, it would solve many other issues like food, water, disease, drywashing If you had water you could run recirculating sluices or divert water through a known deposit area and set up simple wooden sluices and get a better recovery rate.
Africa sitting on sea of groundwater reserves | Reuters
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59747000/jpg/_59747529_aquifiers_africa_464map.jpg
http://deepresource.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/africa-water-depth.jpg

I wanted to add print all the maps you need and have them in paper and electronic form before you go, this is a good list to go off of http://www.backpacking-guide.com/backpacking-checklist.html, also consider lots of batteries and voltage converters. classifiers, finishing system: pans shaker table/blue bowl, m4a1 thermal scope, mosquito nets, manual water pump, few cans of fix-a-flat or english version of it, back up finishing pumps, battery chargers, "camelbak", extra coils. I'll come back and add more later that's a start though.
Update 50-100 killed in gold clash in the north:http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE95Q0D720130627?irpc=932 and I highly recommend you read this:http://m.allafrica.com/stories/201305290074.html/

 

[boulder dash]

You need to master the basics before you invest such large amounts of capital how is your panning can you set up a drywasher how much detecting have you done. It has taken me a few years the first pound was slow going but now 2 oz a month using hand tools can be done on a regular basis. Work work work and beers at night.