The gold in the Akobo region was first discovered during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia 1936-1941, but occurrence of alluvial gold in the region was not widely known outside the Geological Survey of Ethiopia until about 15 years ago. Then a gold rush started and several tens of thousands of people moved to the region in hope of finding riches.

Several major alluvial gold discoveries have been made and some of these have led our team towards the sources of the gold such as the Segele and Joru gold deposits.