MINERAL WEALTH OF THE RED SEA BORDERS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11684, 13 July 1912, Page 3 (Supplement)

MINERAL WEALTH OF THE RED SEA BORDERS.

(By A. J. Park Crawford.)

It Ims long been known that the mountainous borders of the Red Sea are rich in minerals, but only within comparatively -recent years have the various fields "been exploited to any extensive degee. Reliable and*-fairly exhaustive geological surveys have so far been made only of the Sinai pemsula. and tlie western border, the latter survey extending well inland- The eastern sicTe, being und'er Turkish domination, is Sitill an unknown region. It> is a reasonably evident, however, that as the outcrops on the eastern border resemble those of the rich western, many deposits await profitable working under ait improved regime. - Each coast is peculiar m. thai; it consists of a chain of hills extending without much break from end to end: of the Red Sea, but very little inland. Although many of these hills are or volcanic origin, the, bulk or evidence tends to prove the existence of the depression iir which the sea is to be due to contraction of the earth's surface or other internal disturbance. At present capita? is being lavished on the western Sinai and Ifepoian coasts. The recent successful oil-boring operations winch are being earned on by powerful syndicates, are of world-wide importance, and have caused intense financial interest. These operations are confined to tlie coast from Suez to as far south "as Tor, a. distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles, and on both, sides of the Gulf of Suez. Tanks are being erected, piers constructed, and everything prepared to supply ships with, liquid- fuel practically on the spot whei e the oil is found. . . . On the Sinai peninsula are found copper, manganese, oil, iron, and turquoise. Tlie western side ot the -fault of Suez is the scene of many activities. The Ataqa Hills, just south of Suez, furnish lime and! sandstone and turquoise. -V little north-west of Shadwaro, on the coast, are found sulphur and. petroleum. The latter is being prospected for at Zeiteb, Gaysun, Juoal, Ras Deeb, and Gvmsah; at the last-named place several wells are in operation. . Phosphates occur at Safaga, To the north are Granite quarries, and. to the south, old. cold-mines; in fact, old gold workings are to be found', mostly .quite abandoned, down, the coast for about three hundred miles. It is a question if cyaradiug would be a profitable undertaking at some of the older workings. Marble is being quarried south of Kosseir. and. sulphur is found in varying quantities fdr some considerable distance along the coast., , ~ It is astonishing that the exploitation of these rich fields has been left until such recent times; but. development should be on a large scale, ni view of the impetus whic/h has now been given to prospecting. It is a matter tor congratulation, that British capital has been first" on the scene, and there are strong grounds for belief that this enterprise wilE meet with due reward.