Mineral resources and exploration prospect in The Republic of Yemen

The Republic of Yemen composes part of the Arabian-Nubian Shield.The geological conditions in Yemen and other factors are favourable for many types of mineral deposits,like gold,lead, silver,copper and zinc.The gold deposit located in Sana'a is related to volcanic and magma activity;the genetic type of lead-zinc deposit is complicated and the biggest deposit appeared in dolomite of Jurassic in JabalSalab region;copper-nickel deposit is located in Taiz and Amran,in mafic and ultra-mafic intrusive rocks.The mineral potential of Yemen has not been explored.By analysing the mineral resource distribution and the current mineral exploration situation,the author defined several prospect zones,like Al Jawf for gold-silver deposit,Sa'ada for copper-nickel deposit,and Shabwah for zinc-lead deposits.With favourable mining and fax policy,The Republic of Yemen will abstract more oversee investment and to be a hot spot for mineral exploration in the future.