GEOPHYSICAL SIGNATURE OF THE URANIUM MINERALIZED QUARTZ VEINS OF WADI eikwan, SOUTHERN EASTERN DESERT, EGYPT

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Nuclear Materials Authority, P. O. Box 530, Maadi, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

This study is concerned with uranium mineralization in wadi Eikwan, Southern Eastern Desert. The U-mineralization is disseminated in two-mica granite bodies through highly altered contact zone with Quartz veins. This body tends to follow the N-S and NNW-SSE faults, where the hydrothermal mineralized fluids passed and the mineralization were deposited. Preliminary ground γ-ray spectrometric measurements proved that the study area has promising radioactive anomalous zones on surface.
In order to illustrate the geophysical signature of uranium mineralized quartz veins the track etches radon detection, very low frequency electromagnetic (VLF-EM) and induced polarization (IP) methods were applied in the study area. The distribution of radon in the area indicates that the mineralization is aligned along the NNW trend. The high radon anomalies are concentrated at the central parts in coincidence with the fine-grained granite as well as the northwestern parts of the area. The VLF-EM shows the presence of highly shallow conductive zones, which are the most prominent features on the VLF respective maps. The IP method gave clear image about the subsurface setting showing that the quartz veins are deeply rooted. In coincidence with the other geophysical methods, it shows that the mineralization in the area is concentrated at the western side

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