The Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS) is an exposure of Precambrian crystalline rocks on the flanks of the Red Sea. The crystalline rocks are mostly Neoproterozoic in age. Geographically – and from north to south – the ANS includes parts of Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Somalia. The ANS in the north is exposed as part of the Sahara Desert and Arabian Desert, and in the south in the Ethiopian Highlands, Asir province of Arabia and Yemen Highlands.
The ANS was the site of some of man's earliest geologic efforts, principally by the ancient Egyptians to extract gold from the rocks of Egypt and NE Sudan. This was the most easily worked of all metals and does not tarnish. All of the gold deposits in Egypt and northern Sudan were found and exploited by Egyptians. The earliest preserved geologic map was made in 1150 BCE to show the location of gold deposits in Eastern Egypt; it is known as the Turin papyrus. New gold discoveries have been found in Sudan, Eritrea, and Saudi Arabia.
Pharonic Egyptians also quarried granite near Aswan and floated this down the Nile to be used as facing for the pyramids. The Greek name for Aswan, Syene; is the type locality for the igneous rock syenite. The Romans followed this tradition and had many quarries especially in the northern part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt where porphyry and granite were mined and shaped for shipment.
Precious and industrial metals, including gold, silver, copper, zinc, tin, and lead, have been mined in Saudi Arabia for at least 5,000 years. The most productive mine in Saudi Arabia, Mahd adh Dhahab ("Cradle of Gold"), has been periodically exploited for its mineral wealth for hundreds or even thousands of years and is reputed to be the original source of King Solomon's legendary gold. Today, mining at Mahd adh Dhahab is conducted by the Saudi Arabian Mining Company, Ma'aden. Deposits of iron, tungsten, mineral sands, copper and phosphates have been found in many locations. Mining in the Eastern Desert of Egypt and Sudan is limited due to a shortage of water and infrastructure.
Development of the Arabian-Nubian Shield
The Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS) is the northern half of a great collision zone called the East African Orogeny. This collision zone formed near the end of Neoproterozoic time when East and West Gondwana collided to form the supercontinent Gondwana. The East African orogeny extends southward to the Mozambique Belt, and is a subset of the overall Pan-African orogeny. The assembly of Gondwana coincided with the breakup of Rodinia, closure of the Mozambique Ocean, and growth of the shield at 870 million years ago (Ma). This shield growth extended for the next 300 million years, and included island arc convergence and terrane suturing at 780 Ma, with final assembly by 550 Ma. At this time, the East African Orogen became a passive margin and the southern shore of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean.
The shield is divided into crustal blocks or tectonostratigraphic terranes delineated by ophiolite shear zones or sutures. These terranes are paired across the Red Sea, starting from the south, these include Nakfa (870–840 Ma) with Asir (785–720 Ma, 850–790 Ma), Haya (870–790 Ma) with Jiddah (870–760 Ma), Gabgaba (735–700 Ma) and Gebeit (832–810 Ma) with Hijaz (870–807 Ma), and Eastern Desert (810–720 Ma) with Midyan (780–710 Ma). In addition the Halfa (2600–1200 Ma, 750–718 Ma) and Bayuda (806 Ma) terranes are in the western portion of the shield, and the Hulayfah (720 Ma), Ha'il (740 Ma), Afif (750–695 Ma, 840–820 Ma, 1860–1660 Ma), Ad-Dawadimi (695–680 Ma), and Ar-Rayn (667 Ma) terranes in the eastern portion.