Geochemical evaluation of felsic plutonic rocks in the eastern and southeastern Arabian Shield, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

In a geochemical evaluation of the eastern and southeastern Arabian Shield, which included collection of 696 rock samples and 694 pan concentrate samples, a province of tin-anomalous granitoid plutons was defined. Pan concentrates collected in and around these plutons were enriched in tin and tungsten relative to the concentrate population. Rock samples of these leucocratic, muscovite-bearing, peraluminous granites contained anomalously high concentrations of lithium, fluorine, beryllium, lead, rubidium, niobium, yttrium, tin, bismuth, silver, and tungsten.

Ten tin-anomalous plutons were located in the study area. The plutons are typically small, less than 10 km2 in areal extent, and circular to elliptical in plan view. The resource potential of these latest Proterozoic plutons has not been established; economically exploitable concentrations of tin, tungsten, molybdenum, or zinc may be present, and followup studies are warranted. Further, two of the plutons are characterized by higher than normal total-count radioactivity and have potential for uranium, thorium, or rare-earth element deposits.