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Algerians are increasingly heading into the Sahara in search of gold, despite strict laws that criminalize unlicensed prospecting, as authorities intensify arrests and seizures of equipment used in illegal mining.
Algeria’s official central bank gold reserves have been reported at around 173.56 tonnes in 2025.
According to media reports, it has turned from an adventure into an obsession for many Algerians, who gear up with drilling and prospecting equipment, engage in a cat-and-mouse game with security forces, and rely on maps of areas where the precious metal is thought to lie deep underground.
Prospectors prepare with drilling tools, improvised equipment and location maps, then try to stay a step ahead of security patrols in a constant game of pursuit and escape.
In an interview with Alarabia, one former prospector, who served a six-month sentence before his release, said he and two friends, still under 30, set out from Djelfa after contacting people who had tried before and claimed to have found some stones.
Their first hurdle, he said, was gear. They pieced equipment together “from here and there,” relying on online searches and occasional contacts abroad.
But after repeated failures to extract any gold, and after realizing the activity is treated as a depletion of the country’s resources, they were arrested during what they thought would be their final attempt.
He told AlArabiya, “The three of us were under 30. Before leaving our home province of Djelfa, we got in touch with people who had prospected for gold before and found some stones. But our first problem was the equipment we used.
We later managed to piece it together from here and there by searching online and, at times, contacting people outside Algeria.”
For his part, lawyer Farid Sabri said many Algerians are unaware of the seriousness of the crime of prospecting for gold or other precious minerals. He explained that, under the mining law published in the Official Gazette on Aug. 7, 2025, offenders face a prison sentence of two months to two years and a fine ranging from 200,000 dinars ($1,500) to two million dinars ($15,500).
He added in remarks to AlArabiya that “anyone who carries out prospecting or mineral exploration activities without a license is punishable by one to three years in prison and a fine ranging from 1 million dinars ($7,700) to 3 million dinars ($23,000),” and that the same penalties apply to anyone who engages in mining exploitation without a permit or legal authorization.
As for those who dig in designated geological sites or collect or sell minerals, meteorites or fossils without prior approval from the competent authority, they face a prison sentence of six months to one year and a fine ranging from 500,000 dinars (about $4,000) to 1 million dinars ($7,700).
Security operations in the south have repeatedly targeted illegal mining networks.
In one official weekly operational report covering Oct. 15 to 21, 2025, Algeria’s Ministry of National Defense said army detachments arrested hundreds of individuals in several southern areas and seized vehicles, generators, jackhammers, and other equipment, alongside quantities of raw gold-and-stone mixtures linked to illegal mining. mdn.dz
The temptation of “quick riches” has only intensified as gold prices surged to record highs in late 2025, boosting the perceived payoff of even small finds.
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