The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-09
GOLD MINES FOUND IN EGYPT.
DySCOyERIES MADE ny AGENTS
OF BRITIsH CAPITALISTS.
Prospects mat the MininE Carried On
centuries AGO May lie Resumcd-A
Engineers Explorations In the Land
Of the Pharaohs Coal Found. Too

Egypt ~ famous ChieHy y"
obelisks, crocodiles and deserts mat the
land OF the Sphinxes was ever IN
repute rs n centre Of mineral wealth VIII
he news TO most folks outside the charmed
circle Of the psychologists.
:. The fact IL. however. II we accept the
ata,ements OF those who ought to know
that there was once a time, @ons ago.
as Mr.. Kipling would say, when mining
was an important industry In Egypt. UT
sold mines IL Is known that there were
many, and there are very good reasons lot
believing that deposits OF coal were founo
and coal miners were Mt work in Egypt
In the early morning of the worlds history
Of,tbe coal mines not much has vet been
learned .bu, IL il known that the gold mines
~,ere rich enulgh TO produce all the gold
which, Egypt could Use, with enough ieit
over to. supply. all the rival ingdom OF
western Asia. The facts about the mnerai
wealth of the land Of the Nile have been
oply recently made known through the
publication Of the reports OF the engineer
aent out by companies Of British capitalists
70 explore the ruins OF the ancient mines
and to prospect for new veins OF gold'
OF course, the archaologists have known
of the ruins Of the mines for some time'
hut ,their knowledge, for some reason or
other, was never very widely oinuseu'
and IL was left FOR tho practical Interested
only in-the-present prospectort to spread tine
news, From these reports IL Ia quite pos
sible to CONCLUDE that, before long, there
NAV be n rush TO the gold fields OF Egypt,
as there was 10 those of California and
Colorado and South Africa.
n - .,,. no ~ riEinu SDaClfnenS oil
nav orc have yet been found, but the re-
norts' OF the engineers ave been encour-
aginp enough 90 lead the capitalists who
sent them out from London TO direct that
The work be continued. Among the cor
porations organized for the purpose Of
finding out something about the gold de-
posts in Egypt IL the Victoria Investment
Corporation OF London.
This compsny was organized FOR the pur-
pose, not only Of locating new mines, but
also of searching out and reporting on
what was left OF mines that may have been
Welding pay orc in The times of 1.-THE Pharaohs
and the Ptoleniies. The first expedition
sent out by the company in 1900 was in
charge of Charles A. Afford, said 10 be one
the best-known mining engineers in
England.
The story of the discoveries made by
Afford and his associates was told by
him not long ago in a paper read before
he Institute Of Mining and MetallurRy
NJ London. At the request of the
and Mining Journal, Mr.. Afford
an abstract of the paper and this
was published in the journal a
few DAYS ago. Among other things MIR.
says;
prof. A. II. Sayce, the well-known Egypt
is Of the opinion that the eastern
Desert, between the Nile and the Red Sea,
supplied gold, not only to Egypt, but to
Assyria, Babylon. Persia and the other
Of western Asia. The ancient
records, as now interpreted, indicat that
mining was carried on as early as $500 Is.
C., and there was still some mining done
as late as the time Of the Ptolemies.
"To the eastward of the belt OF cultiva-
ton along the Nile is a sandy waste, part
of which can be seen from the river, but
his in no way represents the whole country
between the Nile and the Red Sea. At
Keneh, in latitude 70 degrees north. the
zone, which forms the true desert,
is but twenty miles wide. while In the lati-
tude of Assouan il Is fully $50.
ITO the east Of this. and bordering the
coast of the Red Sea, is a chain OF lofty
and rugged mountains. fifty miles wide.
several Of whose peaks attain an altitude
of 5000 feet above the sea. and the general
altitude OF the divide Of the watersheds is
from $500 to 1000 feet. II is this belt OF
country that forms the mining district
THE crystalline rocks, which constitute
the mountain districts to the east, are of
the Oldest geological series met with in
Egypt. The larger mountain masses are
usually formed OF a hornblendic granite.
with pink orthoclase, which gives the whole
a%strikingly red appearance when seen from
a distance.
Surrounding these, in the lower ranges
and covering very extensive areas, is a
rather fne-grained gray granite. passing
In places into gneiss, and that into mica
schlst, traversed by bikes and int7lsions Of
greensboro, felsite, porphyry, and a very
fne-grained white, elvan granite. II is
In these rocks that most of the auriferous
Quartz veins were found to occur. and the
more the granite was cut up by the intru-
sive rocks the more frequent and more
promising the quartz veins appeared 10 be-
Right hero Mr.. Afford digresses for a mo-
ment to speak briefly of the coal deposits.
He makes tho definite and positive state
ment that deposits of coa have been found
in Egypt and he spurs the imagination with
fne FlKRtStlOn InbI lfltt kOlu anu coal
have been found IL may not be shooting
wide OF the mark 20 suggest that something
eyen moro valuable than gold or coal may
be found in the country's bowels.
Diamonds have been found in South
Africa. Almost everything. from buried
temples TO mummies, hav been found in
Egypt and who knows but diamonds also,
NAV be found in that end of Africa? Here
r. what Mr.. Afford says about the coal:
above the Nubian sandstone, and ap-
parently uncomfortable TO IL, occur beds
Of cretaceous origin, which are best seen
at the surface about the neighborrood
Of Edfu and Rhodesia In the Nile Valley,
and which extend to the northeastward of
Keneh, skirting the lower parts Of the es-
oarpments OF the tertiary strata. II Is in
the lower beds Of this series that deposits
Of coal or carbonaceous matter Of some kind
have been detected
Returning TO the subject Of gold mines,
Mr., Afford continues:
The question of the water supply Of
these eastern regions Of Egypt has always
been locke upon as very serious. and the
present scarcity as an almost insuperable
obstacle TO mining. or, indeed, any work
In the country. To this the writer does
not assent. Under present circumstance
water Is certainly scarce, especially In the
lower districts on the sandstone strata,
but in the eastern mountains there are few,