A Passion For Gold: An Autobiography

11. Ophir: Mahd adh Dhahab, "Cradle of Gold"

Chapter 11 Ophir mahd adh dhahab, “cradle of gold” Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. —albert szent-györgyi von nagyrapolt, The Scientist Speculates Soon after I arrived in Jiddah, Conrad began planning trips to show me some of the ore deposits. We first went north to visit the projects being carried on by the French mission, who were studying Precambrian rocks. We were flown to the northern part of the Arabian Shield in a De Haviland Beaver piloted by one of the best of the bush pilots employed by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Gerald de Roux. In early March 1972 Gerry took us first to Nuqrah, the brgm (Bureau Recherche Géologiques et Minières) lead-zinc-silver project. Next we went to Jabal Sayid, a copper project. I enjoyed visiting the site, not only because of the unique geology and ore deposits, but also because the French had good cooks who prepared excellent meals. On this trip we stayed the night because dinner was finished after dark, and our planes were not allowed to fly unless their pilots could clearly see the ground. Reconnoitering Jabal Mahd adh Dhahab The next morning, as we flew back to Jiddah, we passed near an old gold mine at Jabal Mahd adh Dhahab. As we approached Mahd adh Dhahab (Cradle of Gold) I saw a mind-boggling sight. A series of fifteen or twenty parallel quartz veins were clearly visible crossing the jabal from north to south. I asked Gerry to circle the jabal once, then twice. After completing the second circle, he asked if I wanted to land. I replied, “yes” emphatically. Not only had I seen the ancient open stopes (openings along a vein from which ore has been removed) mingled with modern workings (sams—Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate —1939–1954) in the principal mineralized area on the northeast, but I had recognized two other areas of ancient workings, one to the west and another to the southeast of the jabal. I could also clearly see that neither site had been explored in modern times. This told me that the ancients had found some gold in the old pits, but that the ore was lower in grade than that they were mining elsewhere. I surmised that high-grade ore might underlie the low-grade surface ore. Gerry managed a very bumpy landing on one of the alluvial fans on the east flank of the jabal. When we all jumped out of the plane, Gerry examined the tires and saw a four-inch gash in one of them that exposed the inner tube. Gerry said, “Whew, we were lucky it didn’t blow!” Conrad and I scrambled up the jabal, visiting first the ancient open stopes and modern workings in the northeastern area, then continuing to the western and southeastern sides, where ancient workings had not been disturbed in recent times. The extent of metallization in and around these pits was most impressive. In addition, Conrad and I noted abundant fragments of copper minerals such as malachite (green copper carbonate) around the pits and along quartz veins. I told Conrad I thought the mine might have a long way to go before its potential was exhausted. I resolved to revisit Jabal Mahd adh Dhahab and take samples of the ancient workings as soon as possible . Then we returned to Jiddah. We had no spare tire, and there was no way Gerry could repair the damaged one, so we hoped for the best as we took off from the rocky flat. It held together. Mahd adh Dhahab, “Cradle of Gold” 133 Before Conrad left Saudi Arabia to return home, I accompanied him on several more trips to visit ore deposits in the Arabian Shield, but none had the potential of Mahd adh Dhahab. I returned to Mahd adh Dhahab in July with Robert Luce, Frank Dodge, Dwight Schmidt, and a Saudi guide, Ghanem Gheri, and I asked each of them to sample the veins in a small area along the southeastern side of the jabal, where Conrad and I had seen ancient workings. I sampled another segment. We collected in all about fifty grab samples (samples collected from loose rock fragments on the surface ); twelve of them yielded 0.35 troy ounces or more gold per metric ton (tonne). So, armed with these excellent values, I proposed...