According to the Swedish public broadcasting company SVT, the Russian mercenary army Wagner runs gold mines in the Central African Republic, using violence if necessary.
Fighters of the Russian mercenary army Wagner have forcibly evicted civilians from the road to mining operations in the Central African Republic.
This is reported by SVT based on satellite images and eyewitness accounts.
According to SVT, Wagner has built the country’s largest gold mine in Central Africa in just a couple of years.
The Ndassima gold mine in Ouaka Prefecture is estimated to contain billions of dollars worth of gold by its previous owner, mineral exploration company Axmin.
Wagner has been operating in the Central African Republic since 2018. In this case, Wagner began to cooperate with the president Fuastin-Archange Touadéran with the administration.
With Wagner’s help, Touadéra’s regime recaptured several rebel-held areas, including the Ndassima gold mine.
In return, Wagner – and the companies cooperating with it – have received expensive mining permits.
The village disappeared on the way to the mine
One of these permits was for the Ndassima gold mine. The actual mining permit was given to the company Midas Resources, which is Wagner’s long-term partner. The company has been on the US embargo list from 2023 onwards.
Based on SVT’s satellite images, Wagner has expanded the Ndassima gold mine considerably in a couple of years. In the past, there were villages of local residents near the gold mine, who probably earned their living by digging for gold by hand in the nearby areas.
SVT’s satellite images show how the villages have disappeared in the last two years.
According to media sources and eyewitnesses interviewed by SVT, the villagers did not want to move out of the way of the mine expansions. The Wagner soldiers decided to move the villagers by force.
Eyewitnesses tell of “white, tattooed men with their faces covered” who opened fire after the villagers refused to leave. SVT’s eyewitness says that Wagner fighters killed her husband. Another says that her husband was tortured and that he later died of his injuries.
According to The Blood Gold Report The gold acquired by Wagner in Africa is exported to the Middle East, where it is mixed with the official gold trade through cover companies. The funds obtained from the gold will at least finance Wagner’s activities, but some of the funds may also end up being used by Wagner’s protector, the Russian Ministry of Defense.