The Zug El Bohar hydrothermal uranium-base metal deposits, southwest El Quseir, Red Sea Coast, Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Nuclear Materials Authority

2 Nuclear Materials Authorioty

Abstract

The Zug El Bohar area belongs to the Red Sea coastal plain of Egypt. Lithostratigraphically, this area is represented by a section of Late Cretaceous-Late Miocene sedimentary rocks and it is affected by both a WNW-ESE sinistral strike-slip fault and a NNW-SSE shear zone. The deposits in the NNW-SSE shear zone were subjected to mineralogical and geochemical studies in order to elucidate the importance of these sediments for hosting valuable minerals. The geochemical study indicated that the shear zone has an abnormal concentration of U as well as high concentrations of Mo, Pb, and Zn and As. Whereas the mineralogical study has not been detected any uranium minerals, whereas minerals such as wulfenite (PbMoO4), zaccagnaite [Zn4Al2(CO3)(OH)12.3H2O] and baileychlore [(Zn,Fe2+,Al,Mg)6(Si, Al)4O10(OH)8)], mimetite [Pb5(AsO4)3Cl], calcian mimetite, arsenatian vanadinite [Pb5(V,As)O4Cl], Galena (PbS) and zinnwaldite [KLiFeAl(AlSi3)O10(OH,F)2], celestite (SrSO4) were identified.

The deposits of the shear zone were formed due to a moderately oxidized saline fluid that led to precipitate minerals with a change in pH and temperature. The presence of CaCO3 and sulfate in the shear were played an important role in a decreasing adsorption of U on ferrihydrite and the disequilibrium with its daughters as well as the precipitation of Mo, Pb, Zn , As and REE from the mixed solution.

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