Gold Mining Activities in Sudan with Special Emphasis to Ariab Area – Red Sea Hills

Abstract

Abstract

The surface area of the Sudan is 49 % covered by crystalline Basement

Complex rocks.Gold mineraliztion and mining is confined to terranes

precamberian crystalline rocks, which are dominant in all parts of the country,

forming mainly six blocks. Gold mining is known since the time of Pharoans

more than 3000 years B, C.There are more than two hundred ancient mines or

surface working scattered in Nubian desert and in the Red Sea Hills regions

which is the western sector of the Arabian-Nubian shield (ANS).The ANS is

covered by volcano-sedimentary rocks of late proterozoic, varying in

composition between felsic and intermediate with pre and syn-tectonic granitoid

intrusions and end with anorogenic granitic intrusion. Crustal evolution of the

ANS is related to formation of oceanic material that had been accreted and

welded to the stable Nile craton.The arc terranes forming the ANS are marked

by suture (shear) zones trending NE decorated by presence of ophiolites. The

most prominent shear zone is Nakasib in the Ariab –Arbaat green stone belt in

which the rocks are metmrophosed in the green schist facies and subjected to

several phases of ductile deformation

The exploration work carried in Ariab area, which lies within the terranrs

of ANS., by Joint Venture(J.V) agreement between Sudan and France (BRGM)

had resulted in an exciting discovery of gold in high concentration in many

gossans in the oxidised zone of massive sulphides deposits of pollymetalic

nature also in quartz veins and in silica barite assemblages.Intensive exploration

carried in these deposits resulted in gold estimates of 22 tons which encouraged

the shareholders of J.V. to form Ariab Mining Company (AMC) to exploit gold

at commercial scale.At the end of 2008 AMC has produced and sold

>70(seventy) tons of gold and > ten tons of silver. Parallel to mining operations

the company carried more drilling exploration and electromagnetic airborne

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geophysical survey in the Ariab concession area and other areas in the country

including Nuba Mountains.

This work attempts to reveal all of the results of prospecting, exploration

and mining activities of gold in Ariab Area carried by AMC conducted

according to the latest international standard techniques.

Such information had been considered confidential according to

regulations of the company.