Natural Radionuclide Levels and Radiological Hazards of Khour Abalea Mineralized Pegmatites, Southeastern Desert, Egypt

Abstract

Arranged from oldest to youngest, the main granitic rock units exposed in Khour Abalea are metagabbros, cataclastic rocks, ophiolitic melange, granitic rocks, pegmatite and lamprophyre dykes. The presence of radioactivity associated with the heavy bearing minerals in construction materials—like granite—increased interest in the extraction process. As it turns out, granitic rocks play an important economic part in the examination of an area’s surroundings. The radionuclide content is measured by using an NaI (Tl)-detector. In the mineralized pegmatites, U (326 to 2667 ppm), Th (562 to 4010 ppm), RaeU (495 to 1544 ppm) and K (1.38 to 9.12%) ranged considerably with an average of 1700 ppm, 2881.86 ppm, 1171.82 ppm and 5.04%, respectively. Relationships among radioelements clarify that radioactive mineralization in the studied pegmatites is magmatic and hydrothermal. A positive equilibrium condition confirms uranium addition to the studied rocks. This study determined 226Ra, 232Th and 40K activity concentrations in pegmatites samples and assessed the radiological risks associated with these rocks. The activity concentrations of 226Ra (13,176 ± 4394 Bq kg−1), 232Th (11,883 ± 5644 Bq kg−1) and 40K (1573 ± 607 Bq kg−1) in pegmatites samples (P) are greater than the global average. The high activity of the mineralized pegmatite is mainly attributed to the presence of uranium mineral (autunite), uranophane, kasolite and carnotite, thorium minerals (thorite, thorianite and uranothorite) as well as accessories minerals—such as zircon and monazite. To assess the dangerous effects of pegmatites in the studied area, various radiological hazard factors (external, internal hazard indices, radium equivalent activity and annual effective dose) are estimated. The investigated samples almost surpassed the recommended allowable thresholds for all of the environmental factors.

Notable changes in geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of different phases of episyenitization: insights on the radioactive and shielding of the late phase

“…The purpose is to determine the precise relationship between the alteration processes and the resulting mineral associations. This is particularly important when considering radiation shielding applications, as the mineralogical composition of these granites may directly impact their radiation attenuation capabilities (Moghazy et al, 2021;Awad et al, 2022a;Abd El Rahman et al, 2022;El-Desoky et al, 2022). Additionally, exploring these granitic rocks may lead to discovering new, efficient materials for radiation shielding, thereby contributing to the broader field of radiation protection technology (Zakaly et al, 2021;Tekin et al, 2022).…”

Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk Associated with Granite Bearing Radioactive Minerals and Valuable Metals, Monqul Area, North Eastern Desert, Egypt

“…It has been recognized that granite, related to pegmatite and acidic volcanics, is a good potential source of uranium, thorium, and other rare metal mineralization [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. In the last ten years, comprehensive programs for U and Th exploration in the so-called younger granites (post-orogenic granites) of the ED have been carried out.…”