KHARTOUM, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's Ministry of Minerals announced Wednesday that the country produced over 100 tons of gold in 2017 worth around 400 million U.S. dollars.

"In the past year we produced over 100 tons of gold worth of around 400 million dollars, which is equivalent to the country's oil revenues before the separation of South Sudan," said Sudan's Minerals Minister Hashim Ali Salem in a statement.

He said 80 tons of gold were produced by the traditional mining sector.

He added his ministry is working to remove barriers of investment in the gold mining sector and combat gold smuggling.

Sudan is seeking to make gold a major source of foreign currency after losing three quarters of its oil revenues due to the separation of South Sudan in 2011.