A local hunts for gold in Kapoeta. Gold is found in Ngauro, Namurunyang, Kauto and Napotpot villages, all dozens of kilometers outside Kapoeta town. | File photo/Gurtong

The Bank of South Sudan has announced plans to purchase crude gold locally in a bid to boost the country’s economy.

According to the bank’s boss, President Kiir has approved $4 million for the bank to build its mineral stockpile.

“The president never disappointed us, he requested the money to be released from the ministry of finance,” Gamal Abdallah Wani told SSBC on Tuesday.

He revealed that the board of the bank also approved an additional $1.5 million to acquire crude gold.

The gold, according to the bank’s boss, will be acquired from local miners in the country.

It shall then be refined and stored within the bank.

“With that crude gold – if we have enough of it, then we can go to the next step of refining it. That means we are to keep pure gold with us in the bank,” he added.

Eastern Equatoria, is one of the regions in the country that contains some of the most important and best-known sites for artisanal and small-scale gold mining.

However, the 2012 Mining Act criminalizes black market gold sales but despite this legal framework, South Sudan’s gold remains ungoverned and poorly regulated.