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Posted: 13 Nov 2025, 13:26
A crisis of colossal scale’: the illegal gold rush tearing Ethiopia apart
As gold prices skyrocket, Chinese and western companies are working side by side to exploit a region ravaged by civil war
At a military checkpoint in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, an area reckoning with the aftermath of one of the 21st century’s deadliest wars, heavily armed soldiers ordered TBIJ to pull over. After a brief interrogation, we were told in no uncertain terms to turn back. Only those with written permission from the military controlling the area could go any further.
As we tried to negotiate our way through, a dusty pickup truck skidded to a halt next to us. Its driver, a Chinese national, was accompanied by a local interpreter dressed in army fatigues. In the back were vinyl sacks, pickaxes and half a dozen men. The interpreter handed a piece of paper to one of the soldiers, who waved them through.
The truck accelerated away from the checkpoint and towards the sites we had been forbidden from approaching: two vast gold mines, so big they can be seen from space.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) can reveal that for over a year these sites, known as Mato Bula and Da Tambuk, were both home to huge illegal mining operations, part of an illicit post-war gold rush in Tigray now worth billions, according to records from Ethiopia’s National Bank…
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/s ... gold-trade
As gold prices skyrocket, Chinese and western companies are working side by side to exploit a region ravaged by civil war
At a military checkpoint in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, an area reckoning with the aftermath of one of the 21st century’s deadliest wars, heavily armed soldiers ordered TBIJ to pull over. After a brief interrogation, we were told in no uncertain terms to turn back. Only those with written permission from the military controlling the area could go any further.
As we tried to negotiate our way through, a dusty pickup truck skidded to a halt next to us. Its driver, a Chinese national, was accompanied by a local interpreter dressed in army fatigues. In the back were vinyl sacks, pickaxes and half a dozen men. The interpreter handed a piece of paper to one of the soldiers, who waved them through.
The truck accelerated away from the checkpoint and towards the sites we had been forbidden from approaching: two vast gold mines, so big they can be seen from space.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) can reveal that for over a year these sites, known as Mato Bula and Da Tambuk, were both home to huge illegal mining operations, part of an illicit post-war gold rush in Tigray now worth billions, according to records from Ethiopia’s National Bank…
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/s ... gold-trade