The Bayuda Desert, located at 18°N 33°E, is in the eastern region of the Sahara Desert, spanning approximately 100,000 km² of northeast Sudan north of Omdurman and south of Korti, embraced by the great bend of the Nile in the north, east and south and limited by the Wadi Muqaddam in the west. The north to south aligned Wadi Abu Dom divides the Bayuda Desert into the eastern Bayuda Volcanic Field and the western ochre-coloured sand-sheets scattered with rocky outcrop.

Gold mining occurs today from October to March, as labourers work auriferous quartz found in wadis and shallow mines. These workings are usually in areas previously worked during the New Kingdom of Egypt and the Early Arab Period. In July 2020, it was found that gold hunters had used heavy machinery at the Jabal Maragha archaeological site in the Bayuda Desert, destroying it by digging a huge trench. The gold diggers were arrested and their equipment seized, but they were later released without charges.