Egyptian Gold and Copper at Wadi Dara
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- čas přidán 28. 06. 2024
- Wadi Dara has been a source of gold and copper for Egypt since the time of the Pharaohs.
The geology of the system doesn't fit well with any of the classical large scale Au-Cu deposit models, but it has some excellent evidence of magmatic input.
Many thanks to Ankh Resources for my opportunity to work on this interesting project and their permission to make this video public. Ankh's comittment to educating young geologists is evident in the enthisiasm of their staff to learn and apply new knowledge while we were working together in the field.
0:00 Egyptian gold
0:20 Egyptian copper
0:48 Egyptian maience
1:11 Wadi Dara
1:47 Pharaohs miners
3:00 Roman miners
3:24 Copper miners
3:59 No alluvial miners
5:08 Exotic copper
5:48 Geology of Wadi Dara
6:41 Intrusive compositions
7:10 Cover sequence
7:38 Mineralized veins
8:58 Alteration
9:57 Deposit models
10:29 Microgranite porphyry
10:53 Miarolitic cavities
12:19 Feldspathic veins
13:23 Aplite magnetite veins
13:59 Winu comparison
14:45 Future - Jak na to + styl
Please sir never discontinue this channel. You are one of them the only person who inspired me to pursue Geology in future. I have applied for BSc Geology in the UK and entered the top Unis' Uniss and Southampton). I hope to get the required IB scores in the finals too. All thanks to you sir!
That's great. If I have inspired a few new geologists to find a career that they love, then I am happy too!
Great video Nick, it was a great pleasure working with you on this job, looking forward to more future engagement.
Thanks. The geology is very interesting and superb exposure.
What a sensational video! I was always fascinated by ancient egyptian culture and as I started studying geology I began to wonder exactly how the mineralizations that gave the egyptians access to gold, copper and the minerals they used as gems were formed. Thanks so much for the top quality video!
It's a fascinating place for so many reasons :)
Great stuff. As a field geologist with decades of experience, I'd advise the young bloke at 14:54 to tuck his compass clino in a chest pocket as he's going to end up smacking it with a hammer at some point or banging it on an outcrop as he bends down -- please don't ask me how I know...
Ouch!
You have the best explanations I can find on youtube.
Thanks very much. When I started there wasn't much on geology, but there are quite a few good channels now.
Could you name these good channels please
@@salahhamed9066 here are a few that stand out for me:
www.youtube.com/@GEOGIRL
www.youtube.com/@GeologyNick
www.youtube.com/@geohug
www.youtube.com/@christalksphysicalgeology684/videos
This is probably my favourite video I've seen from you. So much good info packed into it and great to see your thought process. Thanks for taking the time to make it.
Thanks very much. I was very fortunate to work on such an interesting project with such a good story and such a supportive team who helped me make the video.
Amazing wealth of knowdge you have. So very interesting.
Thanks very much. Fortunate that I can share some of it on this project.
Thats a lot of info - collected over decades of experience - amazing!
Thanks. There are a few advantages of spending too much time in the field!
"Experience lad, you should learn to appreciate it."
-Kup
I've always been fascinated by the old workings you find out in the field. Especially knowing that it often required 100 fold more labour/physical exertion (and time) than what the modern day explorer needs to deal with.
One of the best exploration guides. Nobody digs those for fun. You Know the grade was good.
i watched this when it came out, and then three more times trying to comprehend it better which i began to. I had been hoping for a video on gold related to granitoid intrusives. However this one kinda blew my head off ha ha. I've been ridiculously busy with work since however I will come back again and come to grips with more terms here, and journey deep into the rabbit warren. This is a world class show Nick, we're privilaged.
Thanks very much Lachlan. I was very fortunate to work on a system with such good exposure and a supportive client to share the knowledge.
You never change.....
I hope that I improve with age!
Thanks for all the information and the pictures from the Eastern Desert. I had the great pleasure of sampling in the South Eastern Desert 25 years ago with Egyptian geologists from South Valley University as part of my Master's thesis. Among them was my mentor Dr. Abd El Azeem Ahmed Rashwan
The Egyptian geologists on this project are some of the best that I have encountered. Good basic geology training and hungry to learn.
world class content
Much appreciated!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the world ✔️ and thank you for this adventure !!!
It was an adventure indeed! And as it turned out, a geological text book!
Great video, and best wishes to the Egyptian geos to find a super giant Cu-Au ore deposit.
Surely this isn't the only one in Egypt!
@@GeologyUpSkillProbably not! Plenty of room for more!
Great doctor 👏
Thanks!
Great stuff!
Thanks. Great geology is never boring!
Great video Nick! As always! A question: why do you say it is secondary biotite in the granodiorite? Minute 9:53. It looks pretty primary for me. Cheers!
The small randomly oriented biotite grains are in rectangular clusters that pseudomorph primary hornblende phenocrysts so the biotite must be secondary (alteration of hornblende).
Love this. Very cool
Thanks very much.
I've gotten interested in geology at the ripe old age of 33 as an enthusiast amateur and having taken a couple of courses on geo 101 and physical geology can barely follow the logic and have to look up terms as they come and go. But still it is all very exciting to be able to see a master explaining stuff in the field. I guess I need to pick up an economic geology book to further my understanding. What would people recommend? or do I need more prereqs to delve into that?
It does get a bit tech heavy at the end, but if you want to dig deeper, then start with igneous petrology and move on to hydrothermal fluid sources.
Check out Geohugs.
Great Video - Informative, assumed most Egyptian gold was traded, captured or mined in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since Porphyry mining is water intensive, how will the extract ore?
That will certainly be a challenge. There is a nearby pipeline from the Nile. Another alternative is desalination from the Gulf of Suez.
@@GeologyUpSkill Great your back, hope you found some interesting formations - future content?
I have lots of projects waiting for just the right outcrop to make them complete!
nice job!
Thankyou. Glad you liked it!
Absolutely brilliant Nick, how I'd love to tag along
Thanks very much Sab. I just never know when I'm going to stumble onto something really interesting. This one was a treasure!
You need to add a SDC to your kit for untapped alluvials like those Wadi's
The have been some recent artisanal miners in the area, but they focussed on the old workings. I saw no evidence of metal detector work. It is much more popular in southern Egypt.
❤
Thanks!
You are practically good geologist
Thankyou. I'm probably quite an average geologist. I haven't read many research papers, but I have seen quite a lot of rocks!
Did you build that pen out of a normal pen yourself?
It's an engineers scriber from General Tools.
My geographic curiosity is killing me, is it the basin close to the port of Zaafarana, Ain Sokhna or a completely different area?
The nearest town is Ras Shukier
@@GeologyUpSkill Thx, wow it's way further south than I imagined!
You should go to Ghana.
Ashanti goldfields. Obouasi.
Just ask for Minerex.
If they have something geologically interesting (and mappable) it could work.
@@GeologyUpSkill clement Owousu is the head geologist there.
Tell Clement I recommended you.
I've good experience with Ashanti and Minerex. They'd love a geologist like you.
Let's stop pretending that the Egyptians weren't in the America's. That's where the copper probably came from.
Texts in the National Museum of Egyptian civilization frequently refer to copper mines in the Sinai Peninsula during the Pharaohs time.
@KnowlessKnowledge - That would explain the huge Egyptian cultural influence currently visible _everywhere_ in Arizona. 😂
What a magnificent troll.
@@Geo_Seph agree
They also may have stripped the copper cables out of the spacecraft wrecks.