Ore Mineralogical and Geochemical Studies on El-Daghbag-I Gold Deposit, Central Eastern Desert, Egypt

Abstract

El-Daghbag-I gold mineralization is a part of El-Daghbag gold deposit, Central Eastern Desert, Egypt. It is represented by several NW-trending quartz veins cutting across highly sheared granodiorite rocks along NW-trending shear zone. The recorded ore mineral assemblage is magnetite, ilmenite, native gold, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena. Bornite, covellite and goethite are the secondary ore minerals. Statistical parameters, Clark of Concentration, linear productivity, contrast coefficient, zonality index and zoning coefficient were calculated to investigate the geochemical association and whether there are factors controlling distribution of its members. The geochemical primary distribution patterns of gold and the elements properly forming the mineralization revealed that the gold associated elements are (Cu, As, Zn, Ni, Co, Ag and Pb). These elements occur as proper ore sulfide-minerals. The recorded lateral zoning sequence of deposition along the NW-SE extension of the main quartz vein is (Ag-Co-Ni-Cr-Cu-As-Zn-Pb). The lateral zoning sequence along the SW-NE trend crossing the quartz vein exhibits variable depositional sequence is (Ag-Co-Cr-Ni-Cu-As-Pb-Zn). With regard to position of the ore metals in the general sequence of zoning, the gold potential of the central and southeastern parts, due to its probable accumulation at deeper levels of the mineralization, are expected to be promising. Drilling is recommended for studying the vertical zoning of these elements to reveal the site of gold accumulation.

Source of Raw Materials and Its Processing for the Manufacturing of Ptolemaic Faience Bowls from Tell Atrib (Nile Delta, Egypt)

“…Mineralization accompanying the quartz veins is comparable to the hydrothermal mineralization of the gold-bearing quartz veins on the Eastern Desert in Egypt [50]. The primary mineralization accompanying the gold-bearing quartz veins comprises mostly magnetite, ilmenite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena [51,52]. Moreover, cobaltine and tetrahedrite can also appear [53,54].…”

“…The most important minerals, considered as proxies, include tetrahedrite belonging to Cu sulfosalts and cobaltite belonging to As sulfosalts [53,56,57,63]. Ni and Co played a crucial role in the selection as admixtures, as well as sphalerite, pyrite and arsenopyrite [51,52,63,72,74].…”

Tectonic record and gold mineralization in the central part of the Neoproterozoic Keraf suture, Gabgaba district, NE Sudan

“…Most of the gold mineralization in the central KS is therefore coeval with the late tectonic formation of the KSZ overprinting the KS. At Nubian shield-scale, ~600 My-old gold mineralization hosted by quartz veins and related to ductile-brittle transcurrent structures is mostly characterized as orogenic gold (e.g., Elsamani et al, 2001;Klemm et al, 2001;Botros, 2002Botros, , 2004Helmy et al, 2004;El Kazzaz, 2012;Osman, 2014;Helmy and Zoheir, 2015;Khalil et al, 2016;Fawzy, 2017;Zoheir et al, 2019aZoheir et al, , 2019bZoheir et al, , 2019c.…”

“…1a, b) constitutes the main Neoproterozoic gold province worldwide (Johnson et al, 2017). ANS deposits are mostly classified as orogenic gold occurrences preferentially hosted by major shear zones (e.g., Elsamani et al, 2001;Botros, 2002Botros, , 2004Helmy et al, 2004;El Kazzaz, 2012;Osman, 2014;Helmy and Zoheir, 2015;Khalil et al, 2016;Fawzy, 2017;Zoheir et al, 2019aZoheir et al, , 2019bZoheir et al, , 2019c, including the Keraf shear zone (KSZ) (Johnson et al, 2017). The KSZ is mapped in northeastern Sudan and southeastern Egypt, and overprints the ~500 km-long, ~70 kmwide, north-striking ophiolite-decorated Keraf suture (KS) which is rooted deep into the lithosphere (Almond and Ahmed, 1987;Abdelrahman, 1993;Abdelsalam et al, 1995;Abdelsalam and Stern, 1996a;Ahmed Suliman, 2000).…”