UMM TIUR – Gold
(Gippsland 50%)
Location
Umm El Tiur gold deposit is one of the
most famous gold mines in Wadi Allaqi district.
It lies between Gebel Umm El Tiur El Tahtani
and Gebel Adrag at the intersection of Latitude
22°18'15.1" N and Longitude 34°38'6.0"
E.
Historical mining
The Umm El Tiur mine was known to the ancients as there are numerous remnants of stone buildings and grinding stones. The old workings show that a considerable quantity of ore was extracted by the ancients, particularly in the central area where gold was mined in shallow stopes via several vertical shafts. The area also contains several waste dumps and a small quantity of tailing. Numerous ruins are scattered around the site.
The earliest technical report is an inspection
report for lease No 13 by Morton in 1912.
At that time the mine was not in production
but there were reported to be five prospecting
shafts of depths 82m, 64m, 40m, 36m and
34m. Two of the shafts were connected at
the 70m level while the same two were connected
with another two at a depth of 40m. A good
supply of water was encountered in the South
shaft at around 70m.
The mine was still being worked in 1925 with a reported average grade of 15dwts (25.5g/t) throughout the mine.
Geological setting:
The country rocks are predominantly crystalline schists cut by a series of north-northeast trending shear zones. Parallel to the schistosity, one of which hosts the main auriferous vein. The vein is lenticular in form and its filling is mostly blue quartz and some white quartz, both with abundant traces of pyrite and with some galena, visible gold was reportedly limited to the blue-grey quartz.
Exploration Exploration will initially consist of detailed structural mapping followed by RAB drilling of the shear extensions beneath the wadi sediments to the north. RC drilling will target down plunge extensions of the known mineralisation in the old workings.
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