gems, beryl, emerald, Egypt

Beryl ores of Egypt occur in two geologic environments. In the first environment, beryl occurs in micaceous rocks and other schistose rocks in close proximity to contacts with psammitic gneiss. Their spatial distribution depicts their alignment in a fairly well defined zone of an approximate NW-SE trend extend-ing about 45 km. This zone coincides with one of the deep-seated tectonic zones" in the south Eastern Desert of Egypt, which is characterized by anomalous radioactivity and intense metamorphism, as well as metasomatism and mineralization, caused by acidic intrusions. In the second geologic environment, beryl occurs in pegmatite veins, pegmatoidal lenses and veins, and in disseminated form in orthoclase-rich pink granite. This represents new foci for beryl mineralization which should be tested."