Review of the mineral potential of jabal al awaynat area southeast libya

Abstract EN

The area studied in the Jabal al Awaynat in the southeast Libya within latitudes 20° 50 and 23° .V> N and longitudes 2°3 - 42and25° 6oE, bordering Egypt and Sudan, lies in the north African Cratonic platform with Phanerozoic sediment cover.

Economically, the area invoked interest for exploration for radioactive minerals,iron ores and base metals by both aerial and ground surveys, airborn radiometric survey initially brought hope for anomalies over Cretaceous sediments, but the ground check up revealed no econmic deposits.

The carbonatite • type anomalies showed potential sources for rare earth elements and possible uranium, and the granitic ring complexes of Jabal al Awaynat and Jabal Archenu for thorium, base metal mineralization, chiefly copper and lead, is widespread in the basement quartz veins, but most of the occurrences are of no economic importance excepting copper bearing vein west of Jabal al Awaynat and two galena bearing veins in the south al Awaynat, ultrabasic body containing economic grade ores.

The possible value of the iron bearing Precambrian quartzites depends on proving layer dimension of the ore body.