The Sukari gold mine is located 15 km west of the Red Sea coast in the southern central Eastern Desert of Egypt.
The vein deposit is hosted by Late Neoproterozoic granite that intruded island-arc and ophiolite rock assemblages.
The formation of the veins was related to late Pan-African shearing and extension tectonics, with an overall NE¬SW strike-slip deformation movement. Gold is associated with sulphides in quartz veins and in alteration zones. Pyrite and arsenopyrite are the dominant sulphides of the ore, with minor sphalerite, chalcopyrite and galena. Gold occurs in three distinct locations: i). as anhedral grains (GI) at the contact between As-rich zones within the arsenian pyrite; ii). as randomly distributed anhedral grains (GII) and along cracks in arsenian pyrite and arsenopyrite, and iii). as large gold grains (GIII) interstitial to fine-grained pyrite and arsenopyrite.
The structural evolution of the area suggests a long-term, cyclic process of repeated veining and leaching followed by sealing, initiated by the intrusion of granodiorite. A characteristic feature of the Sukari gold mineralization is the co-precipitation of gold and arsenic in pyrite and arsenopyrite.
The recorded resource at Sukari totals 18.8 Mt @ 2.14 g/t Au for 40 tonnes (1.3 Moz) of contained gold.
(Source: Porter GeoConsultancy, www.portergeo.com.au , 2004)
