Perspective Chapter: History and Classification of Gold Mineralization in Egypt

Abstract

Gold deposits and occurrences are spread over a large number of sites which covered by Precambrian the basement rocks in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, and the gold exploration and mining activities had been districted since ancient times. The ancient Egyptians extracted gold from quartz veins of various dimensions in open pits and underground workings. Consequently, gold production in Egypt seems to have started as early as the predynastic times (about 6000 BCE) from Pre-and Early Dynastic times to Early Arab Period. In the modern days, Egyptian mineral resource authority announced many big international bid-rounds for Gold Exploration and associated minerals was launched to open the minerals sector to foreign investment in the mining industry. Many studies have been achieved to classify the gold deposits in Egypt based on various characteristics such as the nature, occurrences, type of host rock, tectonic setting, metal association, fluid inclusion, and the tectonic environment of mineralization. Gold deposit in Egypt still need more geological and mining studies to understand the gold system types, additionally, to get answers regarding to source, transportation, traps, and host rocks, as well as the whole challenges in mining sectors.