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Zabara

Producer in Egypt with commodity Gemstone
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Host and associated rocks
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Geologic structures
  9. Controls for ore emplacement
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Land status
  12. Ownership information
  13. Workings at the site
  14. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. General comments
  17. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10064756
MRDS ID TC39235
Record type Site
Current site name Zabara

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 34.71802, 24.76755 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 500(meters)
Relative position APPROXIMATELY 30 KM S25W OF THE SMALL PORT OF MARSA ALAM ON THE RED SEA, Est +/- 600 M

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Egypt(country)

Africa(continent)

Land(continent)

Federal lands

Area Part Of The Historical Upper Egypt(Federal)

Federal(Type of land area)

Geographic areas

Country
Egypt

Comments on the location information

  • IN TRIBUTARY FROM THE SOUTH TO THE WADI ZABARA; RUINS ARE PRESENT IN THE WADI AND A CEMETERY NORTHEAST OF THE SITE

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gemstone Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • FOLLOWING OBSERVATIONS BASED ON 14 SPECIMENS FROM UPPER EGYPT; 13 STONES ARE CLASSIFIED GREEN EMERALDS AND 2 GREEN BERYLS AS DETERMINED BY THE GIA GEM TRADE LABORATORY, SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA USING COLOR WHICH VARIED FROM MEDIUM-LIGHT TO DARK GREEN; 13 SPECIMENS ARE MODERATE TO HEAVILY INCLUDED AND GAVE DIAPHANEITY RANGING FROM TRANSLUCENT TO SEMITRANSPARENT.

Analytical data

Result NONE OF THE CRYSTAL FRAGMENTS FOUND IN THE FIELD WERE LARGE ENOUGH FOR GEMOLOGICAL TESTING
Result FOLLOWING OBSERVATIONS BASED ON 13 SPECIMENS OF GREEN EMERALDS AND 2 GREEN BERYLS FROM UPPER EGYPT: REFRACTIVE INDEX MADE WITH A DUPLEX II REFRACTOMETER FOR SPOT READING ON CABOCHONS VARIED FROM 1.57 TO 1.58: FLAT FACET READING FOR FACETED SPECIMEN, INDICES OF E=1.581 AND O=1.588
Result PLEOCHROISM MEASURED USING POLAROID-FILTER-TYPE DICHROSCOPE FOUND WEAK TO MODERATE DICHROISM OF YELLOWISH GREEN AND BLUISH GREEN IN ALL STONES DESPITE ALL WERE MODEATELY TO HIGHLY INCLUDED
Result ALL SPECIMENS INERT TO SHORT-WAVE ULTRAVIOLET
Result CABOCHONS GAVE WEAK RESPONSE TO LONG WAVE ULTRAVIOLET WHICH MAY BE TO FROM OIL (?) USED TO FILL SURFACE FRACTURES
Result 11 STONES GAVE POSITIVE REACTION TO CHELSEA FILTER, THREE LIGHTEST-COLORED ONES GAVE A NEGATIVE (YELLOWISH GREEN) REACTION
Result SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF 2.75
Result ABSORPTION LINES AT 662 AND 646 NM
Result EDXRF ANALYSIS DETECTED ALUMINUM, SILICON, CHROMIUM, VANADIUM, AND IRON, ALSO SMALLER PEAKS FOR POTASSIUM, CALCIUM, CESIUM, AND TITANIUM
Result INFRARED SPECTRA RESPONSE SIMILAR TO NATURAL EMERALDS FOUND ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD AS ARE THE RESULTS OF ALL THE ANALYTICAL RESULTS GIVEN HERE.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss

Nearby scientific data

(1) 34.71802, 24.76755
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Nw-Se Trending Deep Seated Tectonic Zone Of Precambrian Age
Type of structure Local
Structure description Contact Zone Between Mica Schist And Underlying Gneissic Granite; Contact Plunges Below Ground To The Ne

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Pneumatolytic-Hydrothermal Deposit In Granite Contact

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 0

Land status

Ownership category Federal
Area name Area Part Of The Historical Upper Egypt

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Occasional Nomadic Bedouins
  • Type Owner
    Owner Arab Republic Of Egypt
    Home office Egypt

Comments on the production information

  • EARLIEST PRODUCTION OF UPPER EGYPTIAN EMERALD MINES MAY HAVE BEEN 12 DYNASTY (2000-1788 B.C.); MOST PRODUCTION WAS FROM 330 B.C. TO 1237 A.D.; PRODUCTION SPORADICALLY TO 1740 WHEN MINES ABANDONED; MINES SUBJECT TO SEVERAL UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO REACTIVATE FROM 1816 TO 1928; CUMULATIVE PRODUCTION UNKNOWN BUT FEW EGYPTIAN EMERALDS ARE KNOWN AND FEW ARE FOUND IN TOMBS; SOME MAY HAVE BEEN CRUSHED FOR MEDICINAL USE; NOMADIC BEDOUINS MAY SEARCH THE AREA AFTER FLASH FLOODS.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Name of workings UNNAMED SHAFT
    Area 45HA
    Length 15M
    Overall depth 15M

Comments on the workings information

  • LARGE NUMBER OF SIMPLE SHAFTS SCATTERED OVER AN AREA OF 49 HA IN 4 DIFFERENT AREAS ALONG MARGINS OF THE WADI ZABARA AND ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE GEBEL ZABARA (HILL); LARGE UNDERGROUND STOPES WITH PILLARS.

Comments on development

  • MODERN PRODUCTION LIMITED TO PICKING THROUGH ANCIENT TAILINGS, WEATHERED HOST ROCK AND IN WADIS. ; ECON.COM: COMMERCIAL MINING REQUIRES PERMIT ISSUED BY EGYPTIAN GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AND MINING AUTHORITY AS REPORTED IN 1993; LACK OF MINING DEVELOPMENT ATTRIBUTED TO (1) GENERAL POOR QUALITY OF EMERALDS, (2) REMOTENESS, (3) HIGH COST OF MINING, (4) HIGH TAXES, AND (5) A PERCEIVED HISTORY OF INTERFERENCE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES ELSEWHERE; ACCESS REQUIRES FOUR-WHEEL-DRIVE VEHICLE VIA 36 KM OF A COMPLEX SYSTEM OF NARROW, SANDY AND USUALLY DRY RIVER BEDS (WADIS) VIA IDFU TO MARSA ALAM; FINISHED STONES SOLD IN LUXON; BOTH FINISHED AND ROUGH STONES FOUND IN THE CAIRO KHAN IL BAZAAR.

Reference information

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit GRANITE OCCURS AS LIMITED, DISCRETE MINERALIZED ZONES ALONG CONTACT; ALSO IN ALLUVIUM GRAVEL
Deposit ARID CLIMATE; TRAVEL IN THE AREA REQUIRES A LOCAL GUIDE AND A MILITARY PERMIT OBTAINED IN CAIRO.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-93 Bliss, James D. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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