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Umm Kabu

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 10110176
MRDS ID TC39234
Record type Site
Current site name Umm Kabu

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 34.89578, 24.59117 (WGS84)
Elevation 35
Location accuracy 1000(meters)
Relative position APPROXIMATELY 55 KM SOUTH OF THE SMALL PORT OF MARSA ALAM ON THE RED SEA

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Egypt(country)

Africa(continent)

Land(continent)

Federal lands

Area Part Of The Historic Upper Egypt(Federal)

Federal(Type of land area)

Geographic areas

Country
Egypt

Comments on the location information

  • ACCESSABLE FROM TWO WADIS BRANCH NORTH-NORTHEAST FROM WADI GEMAL

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; SAMPLES OF EMERALDS IN BIOTITE SCHIST HAVE THE BEST COLOR AT THIS LOCATION; ALLUVIAL MATERIAL INCLUDED SMALL (FEW MM) HEXAGONAL PRISMS, SINGLE CRYSTALS, AND LESS FREQUENTLY CLUSTERS, IN ADDITION TO ABUNDANT FRAGMENTS

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) 34.89578, 24.59117
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 Granite And Mica Schist Usually Seen In Other Emerald Deposits In This Region Is Not Clearly Seen Although Gneissic Granite (Plus White Granite) Was Noted In Wadi Umm Kabu.

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Pneumatolytic-Hydrothermal 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 Historic Upper Egypt

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Occasional Nomadic Bedouin
  • 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.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • GRAVELS IN AREAS ADJACENT WORKINGS MAY CONTAIN ENOUGH EMERALDS TO BE WORKED.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Area 34HA

Comments on the workings information

  • EXTENSIVE TAILINGS, ADITS, SHAFTS

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 COMPLEX SYSTEM OF NARROW, SANDY AND USUALLY DRY RIVER BEDS (WADIS); 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 ARID CLIMATE; TRAVEL IN THE AREA REQUIRES A LOCAL GUIDE AND MILITARY PERMIT OBTAINED IN CAIRO.
Deposit SUSPECTED TO BE ALONG CONTACT ZONE OF GRANITE BUT NOT APPARENT AT THE SITE; ALSO IN ALLUVIUM

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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