Chegga

Chegga is an abandoned fort in the very northeastern part of Mauritania, close to the borders with Algeria and Mali. It has been a caravan stop for centuries. There are neolithic rock carvings in the oued 500 metres away from the fort, near a water source.[1][2]

Chegga Cheggat
Chegga Location in Mauritania
Coordinates: 25°22′23.89″N 5°47′14.12″W
Country	Mauritania
Region	Tiris Zemmour
Elevation	400 m (1,200 ft)

Chegga consists of a mosque and a military fort. It was built by the French Foreign Legion and taken over by the Army of Mauritania after independence.[1]

A view of artisanal mining near Chegga

In 2019 president Mohamed Ould Ghazouani opened the surrounding military exclusion zone to prospecting on a limited basis, although technically foreigners can still be shot on sight. Chegga has since become a center of artisanal gold mining by Mauritanians and Malians using hand tools, as well as larger-scale industrial prospecting by the Russian energy company Emiral Resources. The Russian prospecting, drilled at an angle beneath artisanal mines, has increased mine collapses and killed many local miners.[3]

An artisanal miner working in a mine near Chegga