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In the Eastern Desert of Egypt, gold in addition to its presence in major Precambrian vein type - gold deposits, occurs as a by-product in a diverse of ore deposits such as Algoma-type Banded Iron Formation, volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, Cu-Ni sulphide deposits and Pb-Zn ore deposits.

The high specific gravity of gold that help in preserving it in alluvium is a unique feature in such way that locations of anomalous alluvial samples, regardless of magnitude, can be used as the most consistent clue to any probable mineralization in host rocks in the near vicinity.

In South Um Monqul prospect (20 Km(2)), Eastern Desert, Egypt, drainage survey showed that gold in modern alluvium occurs in very low concentrations in the major bulk of the collected samples (261) and only 28 samples have gold values that are high by the world standard. Careful mapping of bed-rocks that are drained by wadis and gullies in which anomalous alluvial sample are located, led to the recognition of certain hydrothermal alterations that are suggestive for a porphyry copper mineralization.

Many previous studies showed that good results were otained by panning for gold in the modern alluvium of the Eastern Desert of Egypt and accordingly it is highly recommended that gold in modern alluvium must be treated as a signature or hall-mark either for gold mineralization itself and/or other styles of mineralization in which gold could occur either as by-or-co-product.