In the west of Ethiopia near the border of Sudan is a place called the Asosa zone. This may be the site of the world’s oldest gold mine. Dating back to around 6,000 years ago, it provided a major source of gold to the ancient Egyptian empire, whose great wealth was famous throughout the known world.
He may even have supplied the Queen of Sheba with lavish gifts of gold when she visited King Solomon of Israel some 3,000 years ago. The Queen of Sheba is a biblical figure. The description of her visit to King Solomon is also mentioned in the Koran, Talmud as well as Ethiopian epics and is the subject of several films and operas.
Some local residents already make a living from prospecting for gold, and several mining companies have been active in the area in recent years. The geology of the Asosa zone is characterized by various types of volcanic and sedimentary rocks over 600 million years old. The area has been heavily deformed by geological forces, resulting in massive to tiny veined cracks.
Some of these veins contain quartz, and this is mainly where the gold of the area accumulated between 615cm. and 650 million years ago – along with silver and various other metals. Gold came from molten materials deep within the Earth finding its way up where tectonic forces drive oceanic crust under a continent.
This is why gold deposits are seen in island arcs such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, etc. Now a new study shows that Ethiopia could be sitting on one of the world’s largest unprocessed gold deposits.
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