Petrography, geochemistry and petrogenesis of the MIGIF HAFAFIT GNEISSES at HAFAFIT MINE area, South Eastern Desert, Egypt

The present monograph by A.A. Rashwan is a major contribution to the Bilateral Cooperation in Geosciences between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Federal Republic of Germany. The Egyptian Geological Survey and Mining Authority (EGSMA) represents the Egyptian side and the Geologisch-Palaontologisches Institut (GPI), Ruprecht-Karls-universitat, Heidelberg the German side. The cooperation project is sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology (BMFT), Bonn, through the International Bureau of Forschungszentrum Jülich. The general aim of the cooperation project is to bring together the detailed regional knowledge of the Egyptian side with the general experience on tectonic and ore forming processes, and laboratory facilities of the German side. In particular, the project attempts to clarify the tectonic evolution of the Pan-African basement in the Eastern Desert of Egypt together with the formation and location of ore deposits. Towards that aim the present work by A.A. Rashwan is of eminent importance. For the first time, it gives a comprehensive compilation of petrographic, geochemical and petrological data for a suite of gneissic rocks, which forms, together with other areas of gneissic suites, a conspicuous element of the Pan-African basement. The data presented here show the gneissic suite to represent an igneous sequence starting from ocean floor ophiolites and leading to a calc-alkaline succession similar to modern island arcs. Elsewhere in the Eastern Desert ophiolites (ocean floor fragments)and calc-alkaline igneous rocks (island arcs) host the famous gold and base metal deposits. The present results, therefore, imply the gneissic rocks to be a promising target for future exploration of ore deposits. This latter work is now on its way and we are looking forward to see further results and their publication in the "Scientific Series" of the International Bureau. Last, but not least, we want to express our thanks for the generoussupport of the Bilateral Cooperation project by the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology, Bonn, and the International Bureau of Forschungszentrum Jülich