Wadi Hafafit anthophyllite mine, Upper Egypt

The U.S. Bureau of Mines' Minerals Yearbook for 1946 reported that "a large deposit of amosite is said to have been found in Wadi Hafafit in Baramia district of Upper Egypt."² In January 1950 Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, reported that "the Egyptian Asbestos Co. sold out on May 1st, 1947 to the Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E., 37 Kasr el Nil St., Cairo, which company has been working the deposit since that time."¹ The company told the journal that its asbestos "is of the anthophyllite variety," where the yearbook had called the deposit amosite, and that it "is said to have a high fusion point and is highly resistant to acid."^1,2 It gave its production as 940 tons in 1947, 1,625 tons in 1948 and 117 tons in 1949, "10 months only."¹ "Output from the Hafafit mine was restricted in 1949 by transport difficulties," the company said, "but these have now been largely overcome and production is now limited by available milling facilities."¹ It said the fiber was being used "for refractory bricks, low pressure asbestos-cement pipes, filter products, bituminous and tar compositions and emulsions, including use in asphalt tile, asbestos cement insulation."¹ "They tell us it is the only deposit in Egypt being worked at present," the journal wrote.¹

The documents report this mine producing asbestos fiber for sale.¹

Output the documents report

Figures as printed, in the units each document uses (short tons before about 1990, metric tons after, in most U.S. chapters). Some are a year's output, some a daily rate or a capacity, some a company's total rather than this mine's alone; the statement for that year below says which.

Year by year

Every statement about this mine in the documents, in each document's own words, by the year it is about.

1946

• Exploration: “A large deposit of amosite is said to have been found in Wadi Hafafit”, p. 5²

1947

• Output: “1947 940 tons” (Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E.), said by Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 26¹
• Ownership: “the Egyptian Asbestos Co. sold out on May 1st, 1947 to the Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E.” (Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E.), p. 26¹

1948

• Output: “1948 1,625 tons” (Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E.), said by Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 26¹

1949

• Idle: “Output from the Hafafit mine was restricted in 1949 by transport difficulties” (Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E.), said by Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 26¹
• Output: “1949 117 tons (10 months only)” (Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E.), said by Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 26¹

1950

• Worked: “the only deposit in Egypt being worked at present” (Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E.), said by Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 26¹
• Fiber: “anthophyllite” (Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E.), said by Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 26¹
• Buyers: “The fibre is being used for refractory bricks, low pressure asbestos-cement pipes, filter products” (Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E.), said by Upper Egypt Mining Co. S. A. E., as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 26¹

Other names

Documents call this mine “Wadi Hafafit”, “Hafafit mine”.

References

1. Asbestos Magazine, 1950, January 1950 (January 1, 1950), p. 26.
2. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1946 (January 1, 1947), p. 5.