Boushi reported in 1972 that the Gebeit gold mine is located in the northern Red Sea Hills region in the Democratic Republic of the Sudan. The mine [renamed:Jubayt Elma'aadin] probably was worked as long ago as 3,500 year. Total gold production is unknown but it is believed to be at least several hundred thousand ounces, [worth in current value at about US$750 million]. The rocks of the mine area are mainly silicic metavolcanica of the Narrdeilb Series, a subdivision of the Basement Complex of the Red Sea Hills.
The principal structures of the region are folds and faults that trend north to northeast, These structure are cut by two later sets of fractures that trend east and northwest, respectively; the latter set is parallel to, and perhaps associated with the Red Sea rift system, Gold occurs free in quartz-pyrite-arsenopyrite veins and in the adjacent wall rock. Wall rocks are altered to chlorite, epldote, pyrite, and calcite. The veins are irregular and discontinuous, and are as much as 10 feet thick. Gold mineralization is due to hydrothermal activity thought to be related to emplacement of the Young Granite in the late Precambrian or early Paleozoic.
Archaeologists date the start of gold mining in the northeastern Sudan as the Pharaonic age, some 3,500 years ago. Crushing stones, working tables, and ruins around the old gold mines indicate an active and systematic mining industry; in fact, ancient mine ruins are found at every modern gold mine in northeastern Sudan. The mines were operated "efficiently" by the ancient Egyptians, and were largely worked out [to the extent they understood the geology] when they finally were abandoned.
The recorded history of the Gebeit mine begins in 1903 when the Gebeit Mining Syndicate was registered. This company continued working the mine until 1933, but little is known of its activities and production. According to Twitchell ( 1932), about 60,000 tons of gold-bearing rock with an average gold content of 43.5 grams/ton (~1.39 ounces/ton) was extracted from the Gebeit mine between 1914 and 1931, representing a value of £320,000 Sterling.
In 1933, Gebeit Gold Mines was registered and started working the mine. This company installed a counter-current decantation plant to extract gold from the tailings using the cyanide process, erected five stamps in addition to the five already present, and built a dam for water storage.
An average of about 4,600 ounces of gold was reportedly produced annually from the tailings and crushed rock between 1933 and 1942. In the annual report of Gebeit Gold Mines for 1935-1936, as reported by Whiteman (1971, p. 221) the estimated grade of mill heads is given as 10.7 dwt/ton (0.535 ounces/ton) and that of [the light colored] tailings as 4.13 dwt/ton (0.206/ton). Because of labor shortages caused by World War II, operations of Gebeit Gold Mines stopped In 1942.
[During our visit to the site in the early 1980s, numerous grave markers were noted with rocks in an oblong pattern at sites dotted around the periphery of the mining operations. These sites were said to be "Roman graves." We understood that a few weeks after our visit, geologists of the BRGM (French Geological Survey) initiated a detailing drilling program on and around the Gebeit mine site. Results unknown.] The population of the Gebeit Mine region has grown substantially since 1980s because of gold mining throughout the area.]
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