Reconnaissance geochemical survey of the At Taif-Al Bahah region, southern Hijaz, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Pan concentrates were prepared from 265 wadi sediment samples collected during a geochemical reconnaissance conducted between At Taif and Al Bahah to further assess previously identified tungsten anomalies and to locate additional mineralized rock. The samples were analyzed by semiquantitative spectrographic methods for 30 elements, and tungsten was determined by colorimetry. All determinations in excess of two standard deviations greater than the population mean are considered anomalous, although any detectable amount of tin or tungsten (detection limits 10 and 50 parts per million, respectively) is defined as anomalous.

An area south of At Taif containing significant tungsten was confirmed and found to be larger than initially determined. A possible porphyry copper pluton was discovered 50 km south-southeast of At Taif. Thirty kilometers south of At Taif, a low-grade tin anomaly associated with an S-type granite was identified. In addition, the sampling identified seven anomalous areas attributable to rock geochemically atypical of the study region. Finally, although samples from the A1 Lith-Hajrah area collected for an earlier study were found to contain anomalous concentrations of tungsten, samples collected there during this study do not support those findings.