Here was the beginning,
In this arid desert and among this high mountain’s peaks,
The ancient Egyptians discovered that those rocks contain minerals and resources,
That will change the face of history
They used these minerals to create the greatest civilization throughout the entire history,
Which is clearly evident from their great monuments.
Until an element has been discovered, that has unique properties
And a glamor enchanting eyes and minds,
It is the yellow metal (GOLD)
They was dependent on it to make jewelries, tools and to immortalize their kings
And gold became the dominant currency at that time
Here is the oldest mining map ever known in the history, for the Fawakhir Gold Mine
Dating back to 1300 B.C, which decorates the courtyards of the Turin Museum until now
Recently, the economies of the major countries are measured by their gold reserves as a cash cover
This prompted nations to compete in gold exploration and exploitation
Over time; methods of gold deposits exploration and exploitation have been evolved,
And used the modern technology to achieve maximum return from it.
In the past, gold was extracted from the high grade zones and/or veins only,
And with modern technologies, gold extraction took place in the zones of large extensions and low grads.
African countries gained the largest market share recently in the global interest of gold mining,
So that it has become one of the largest continents for producing gold
Here, where the two continents of Africa and Asia meets together,
There is a unique geological structure,
which considered as an appropriate environment that contains mineral-rich zones, especially gold,
Which called the Arab Nubian Shield.
The Arab Nubian shield region has become an important place of gold seekers in recent times,
especially with the discovery of many economic mines, on top of which is Sukari Gold Mine,
which contains approximately 15 million ounces of gold
This presentation will highlight the area of the Arab Nubian shield,
and its components which is rich in gold, historical and recent mines
and the recent recorded evidence of mining activities in the region, especially in Egypt
Arab Nubian Shield geologically divided in two components:
The Arabian shield east of red sea in the Arabian Peninsula
and extended from Yemen at south throughout Saudi Arabia to Jordan at north
And the Nubian shield west of red sea, which extended through many countries;
Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.
The Nubian Arabian Shield is the northern part of a large orogenesis,
that forms the heart of the great continent of Gondwana at the end of the Pre-Cambrian era.
The movement and collision of the continental plates helped to crack the rocks of the earth crust,
and building of mountain ranges, which led to the separation of the continents in their current form.
The Arabian Nubian shield is of fundamental importance to the geology of the world,
and it is one of the largest exposed areas on Earth for basement rocks.
The formation of the Arab Nubian shield was accompanied by orogenic movements
and complex regional geological structures, such as faults, folds, and alteration zones,
where the most important reasons for the concentration of some minerals, such as:
Chromium, Nickle, and Cobalt which accompanied serpentinite and ultramafic rocks.
Tin and rare earth minerals which accompanied granitic rocks
Gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper and many other minerals,
which distributed abundantly in some of mineralized quartz veins due to magma and hydrothermal solutions.
Mineral resources in the Nubian Arab shield have been used for more than 3000 years.
Mining operations have flourished recently in this region,
and production is under way from large mines,
and work is being done to explore their hidden fortunes with accelerated steps by international companies.
At the domestic level,
Egypt has in recent years added substantial amendments
to the laws and regulations governing exploration and mining operations
The latest of which was amended to the value of royalty, rents, exploration and exploitation systems,
in the executive regulations of the Mineral Resources Law issued at the beginning of the current year 2020.
In the first quarter of 2020, Egypt announced an international bid
to explore gold and associated minerals for 320 sectors in the Eastern Desert
Every sector covered an area of approximately 170 sq km.
The Egyptian government hopes that these steps will be the beginning of a new era,
in which exploration and exploitation of its mineral resources flourish.
In the next presentation we will highlight on the most important mineral prospects,
inside Egypt and the existing mining projects, on top of which is gold.
To be continued,,,
