More than 120 ancient gold deposits and occurrences are located in the Precambrian basement rocks of the Eastern Desert of Egypt which considered as a gold metallogenic province. Within the Eastern Desert the gold mineralization displays high clustering in the central and southern parts rather than the northern part. The Eastern Desert of Egypt has been considered the main target for gold exploration and exploitation.
Gold Production:
Gold production in Egypt started as early as pre-dynastic times (~ 4000 B.C.) and continued up to the fifth century A.D., from the fifth century A.D up to the 19 th Century there were little sporadic gold exploitation from the southern part of the Eastern Desert. The ancient gold mining was confined to the gold-bearing quartz Veins without any attention to the associated alteration zones. There are no records of the quantity of gold that had produced during that period.
During 20th Century:
By the beginning of the year 1902 systematic gold production was established marked by documentation of the quantity of the exploited gold. This period of gold production continued until the year of 1927 with cumulative production of about 2750 kg. Of fine gold. Between 1927-1934 the gold production was nearly stopped due to definite technical reasons concerning the depth of the ores, the raising water table in the shafts and poor communications. The period between (1932-1958) represents a new stage of gold exploitation in Egypt, during which a quantity of 4200 kg. Of gold was produced from a number of deposits such as Sukari, Umm Ud, Hangaliya, Umm Rus, Barramiya, El Sid, Umm Garaiat, and others. The gold content of the exploited deposits ranges from 11 to 30 gm. /t and the total production from 1902 to 1958 was about 7 tons of pure gold. By the end of 1958, gold production was stopped due to nationalization of Naser period, and also due to the lack of technology and capitals for mining investment.
