Mauritania urges gold prospectors to stay within borders amid rising tensions

Mauritanian authorities have renewed calls for artisanal gold miners to stay within national borders following repeated unauthorized crossings into neighboring Morocco, Hespressreports. 

“Miners must respect national borders and comply with laws, customs, and bilateral agreements governing our relations with neighboring countries,” regional governor Tayyib OuldMohamed Mahmoud said in a press conference after visiting the border region of Bir Moghrein.

Mauritania boasts rich gold reserves and a robust small-scale mining sector. According to the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals, around 50,000 people are engaged in artisanal mining activities.

However, repeated incursions into Moroccan territory by Mauritanian miners have sparked diplomatic and security alarms. Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Al-Hassan, president of the Mauritanian Miners’ Union, condemned the border breaches as “reckless and illegal,” warning that such actions jeopardize lives and damage the nation’s reputation.

Ould Al-Hassan attributed the violations to a lack of awareness among miners, unemployment, and misleading religious views that reject borders between Muslim countries. He also criticized the government’s limited response and called for stronger border enforcement, increased collaboration with mining unions, and trilateral cooperation with Morocco and Algeria to curb mounting threats.