GOLD
30 km east of Kokoseb. In 2024, regional soil sampling outlined the Manga Prospect as a strong arsenic anomaly. Follow-up rock chip sampling returned grades up to 19.75 g/t Au. A maiden 1 800m RC drilling programme confirmed the presence of bedrock mineralisation, highlighted by intercepts of 138 m at 0.22 g/t Au from 69 m and 18 m at 0.50 g/t Au from 20 m. “We believe we have just hit the western margin of an extensive mineralised system, which we are now chasing along strike.” Manga is emerging as a high-priority target within the Ongwe land package. Further to this, the company recently announced the discovery of a new 5 km long, gold in soil anomaly located 17 km from its existing Manga Gold discovery. Ongwe’s CEO, Dave Underwood, commented: “The newly discovered Nguni prospect is the biggest gold in soil anomaly I have seen in Namibia since first embarking on exploration here in 2008. This surface gold discovery is just 17 km from our Manga gold discovery at the Omatjete Gold Project and 55 km from Wia Gold’s 2.93 moz Kokoseb gold project, all associated with the same structural trend. The tenor of the gold anomaly is also extremely impressive with twenty-eight samples assaying above 300 ppb Au and eight above 500 ppb Au so far. Although the grade of the soil anomaly doesn’t necessarily indicate the grade in the rocks below, it is promising that the gold numbers are similar to those at Kokoseb, when the discovery was announced in September 2021. We are currently undertaking infill mapping and sampling to accurately define the mineralisation footprint for the drill programme to start in H2 2026. The Nguni prospect is currently open to the north, east and west. We look forward to developing the Nguni and Manga targets while continuing the grassroots sampling over the rest of this exciting and rapidly emerging gold district.” Firm to remain explorers Joone is clear that the Ongwe team are explorers rather than miners. “We are particularly strong in greenfields exploration. Our model is to make a discovery, drill it, advance it to shovel-ready status, and then sell it to a mid-tier or major mining company. I believe Namibia is becoming increasingly strategic as an emerging gold producer. For the past 20 years, West Africa has been the crown jewel of African gold mining. However, it is no longer as attractive as it once was, and Namibia is now emerging as a compelling alternative for companies looking to diversify their geological footprint into a lower-risk jurisdiction,” concludes Joone. n
The Ongwe team has extensive in-country experience in gold discovery.
Since the beginning of the year, the company has undertaken extensive surface exploration programmes across its project portfolio.
extensive surface exploration programmes across its project portfolio. “We have identified three entirely new district-scale gold systems including Nguni, Manga and Belmontall - three marked by extensive multi-kilometre surface geochemical anomalies. These are significant discoveries and the next step is to systematically refine them into high-quality drill targets. Our exploration methodology follows the same disciplined approach that proved successful at Osino. We start with large-scale surface soil and calcrete sampling programmes to define geochemical anomalies. Once these are outlined, we progress to what we refer to as bedrock drilling.” Having recently completed substantial surface sampling programmes, Ongwe is currently executing an extensive bedrock drilling campaign. The objective is to refine the newly identified gold systems into high-confidence drill targets ahead of the next phase of exploration. The company is scheduled to commence a significant diamond drilling programme during the second half of the year. Omatjete gold project The Omatjete project covers a broad area of extremely prospective terrain just
14 MODERN MINING www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | SEPTEMBER 2026
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