It might sound like a good old Tarzan story, but the areas north of Mellit has real salt mines.
People excavating the salt, have few other chances of making a living.
The salt passes several merchants even before it reaches the city of El Fasher . From there it's transported to the rest of the Sudan. The nature of this region has the typical landscape where rock formations break through the sand and the stones. The effects can sometimes be striking. People in this region of the Sudan are at the best losely connected to Khartoum, and seems to be well equiped with products coming down from Libya, even if the borders are 600 km up north.