Ongwe Minerals is set to commence its first-ever diamond drilling campaign at the newly identified Nguni gold prospect, following the discovery of a significant six-kilometre gold-in-soil anomaly. The programme aims to unlock the potential of what the company believes could be Namibia’s next major gold discovery.
On 6 August, Ongwe announced the completion of detailed soil sampling across the Nguni prospect, located within its Omatjete Gold Project. The sampling identified a continuous gold anomaly stretching six kilometres, which remains open to the north, east, and west, indicating the mineralised system may extend much further.
Nguni is strategically positioned approximately 17 kilometres from Ongwe’s Manga Gold discovery and 55 kilometres east of Wia Gold’s Kokoseb Gold Deposit, along the promising Okondeka Fault Zone, one of Namibia’s emerging gold corridors.
The recent exploration involved an intensive 50-by-50-metre soil sampling grid, yielding encouraging results. Notably, 50 samples exceeded 300 parts per billion (ppb) gold, with the highest at 1,310 ppb, levels comparable to those recorded at Kokoseb prior to drilling that confirmed a significant gold resource.
Ongwe’s Chief Executive Officer, Dave Underwood, remarked, “The infill work on the Nguni prospect is now complete and it looks like a very robust target with scale potential. We are excited about initiating the first-ever drill program at Nguni and will begin with RC and diamond drilling to gain detailed geological insights in this area of very limited outcrop.”
The company plans to mobilise a diamond drill rig later this month for an initial 5,000-metre drilling campaign, focusing on the core of the gold anomaly. Operations will start with a single rig, with the possibility of adding more rigs as geological understanding improves.
Meanwhile, Ongwe is finalising land access agreements for neighbouring farms to the north, east, and west of Nguni. Once secured, soil sampling will extend beyond current boundaries to fully delineate the mineralised system.
Geological mapping shows that gold mineralisation is hosted in metasedimentary rocks adjacent to granitic contacts, a setting similar to that of the nearby Kokoseb Gold Deposit. The highest gold values have been found in the northern and southern areas of the current grid, both still open beyond tested zones.
Beyond Nguni, Ongwe is expanding exploration, with teams conducting systematic soil sampling along regional fault structures south and east of the prospect. More than 80 kilometres of prospective strike within the broader Omatjete Gold Project remains unexplored.
In other areas of Namibia, assay results are awaited from drilling at the Belmont prospect within the Khorixas Gold Project, where recent drilling intersected promising quartz veining and sulphide mineralisation. Additional samples from the Manga Gold Discovery’s eastern extension are also being analysed.
Ongwe Minerals currently holds three flagship gold projects in Namibia’s Northwest Damara Gold Belt. Founded by members of the team behind Osino Resources’ Twin Hills discovery, the company’s strategy focuses on identifying and rapidly advancing new gold systems along the Okondeka Fault Zone.