Application of ground magnetic and multi-frequency EM techniques for the Abu-Shihat radioactive prospect area, North Eastern Desert,Egypt

Abstract

Land magnetic and electromagnetic data enhancement procedures were employed to follow the extensions of the observed anomalies on the surface downwards in the deeper levels and to recognize any possible relations between the localization of uranium mineralization and both the structural and geologic settings.This study revealed that the Analytic Signal (AS)and high pass and low pass filtering approaches significantly improve the interpretability of the measured magnetic data in discriminating the shallow and deep magnetic sources within the Abu-Shihat prospect area.Furthermore,the EM survey using varying frequencies,coil separations and station separations was performed in the considered area with the horizontal-loop EM equipment.The interpretation of the horizontal-loop EM data indicated the presence of some conductive zones.These zones are mainly associated with felsite and pegmatite dykes,as well as alteration and fault zones.The target parameters such as the location,width, depth,dip and conductivity thickness were estimated for each conductive zone.Combining the ground magnetic and horizontal-loop EM surveys with the geological and structural mapping revealed that the mineralizations are concentrated in the eastern and western parts of the study area,and these techniques are considered as valuable exploration tools for uranium associated sulfide mineralization.