Many young Sudanese have joined a dangerous gold rush, working in unregulated mines with their hands and rudimentary tools for meagre daily wages.

They face chemical poisoning and regular mine collapses.

Last week at least 82 people were killed and dozens injured in a collapse in the southern Kordofan region.

Artisanal and small-scale mining, which takes place in unofficial zones or decommissioned mines, accounts for the majority of gold extracted in Sudan.

According to Sudanese officials and mining industry sources, nearly all of the gold produced by both sides of the war flows to the United Arab Emirates, which denies reports that it arms the RSF.

Even before the war pushed nearly 20 million Sudanese into severe hunger, artisanal mining employed more than two million people, according to industry figures.

Africa's third-largest country is one of the continent's top gold producers, and recorded a "five-year high" of 70 tonnes of production last year, the government said.

But officials say most of the gold is smuggled across Sudan's borders, including through Chad, South Sudan and Egypt before reaching the UAE, the world's second-largest gold exporter.