In El-Ebeidiya, northern Sudan, artisanal gold mining has created an acute environmental and public health emergency, where geologist Mohamed Abdelrahman documented miners using approximately 5.6 tons of mercury daily, with around 1,500 pounds washing into the surrounding environment each day from poorly managed tailings. A comprehensive 2021 study by Al Neelain University's Salih Ali Salih revealed devastating consequences: along a mere 40-mile stretch between Atbara and El-Ebeidiya, researchers identified approximately 700 waste heaps containing an estimated 450,000 tons of mercury-contaminated tailings, with 20% of these toxic piles located within 150 feet of residential homes. The contamination has infiltrated local water supplies, with testing confirming high mercury levels in one-fifth of drinking water samples, over a quarter of urine samples, and 7% of blood samples – predominantly from young children. Local communities report alarming health impacts, including increased miscarriages, paralysis, and blindness, while the situation has been dramatically worsened by the August 2023 flash floods that submerged hundreds of villages and mines across northern Sudan, washing concentrated toxic chemicals directly into drinking water and irrigation sources that serve the region's most vulnerable communities, creating what climate activist Nisreen Elsaim described as "a huge disaster" that compounds the humanitarian crisis in a country where warring military factions – notably the RSF under General Hemedti – actively encourage and profit from unregulated mining to finance their ongoing conflict.