Gamma-ray spectrometric survey for mineral exploration at Baljurashi area, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mineral resources exploration in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia became an important target for the Saudi government. Nowadays, the economic vision of the country is to move away from oil-based country to multisource energy-based country. In Baljurashi area there were ancient mines for Copper, Cobalt, Magnesium, Zircon, and some other minerals. In the current study, we aim to evaluate the Baljurashi area in terms of mineral resources using the advanced technique. Consequently, we carried out ground gamma ray spectrometry survey in an area of about 50 km2, elevation variation ranges from 380 m to 2280 m above the sea level. We used the RS-700 system to collect the gamma ray spectrometry data. In addition, we used the existing geochemical analysis results for this area and integrated the results to map the most important minerals. The integration work indicates that the area of Baljurashi is rich in mineral resources. The mineralization zones are located in the eastern part of the area where elevation is high (e.g., east of the escarpment). We also found that these mineralization zones are structurally controlled. Important mineral maps were produced (e.g. Cu, Cr, Mn, and Zr). We highly recommend more geophysical studies to evaluate the Baljurashi area for mineral identifications and quantifications.