Chamwe Kaira
Canadian exploration company Ongwe Minerals Incorporated says new drilling results at its Manga prospect in the Erongo region are showing signs of a larger gold discovery than initially expected.
The Manga prospect forms part of the company’s Omatjete Gold project, one of three main gold projects Ongwe is developing in Namibia alongside the Khorixas and Outjo projects.
The company said recent bedrock drilling confirmed a 2-kilometre-long underground gold zone at Manga.
Gold values from the latest samples ranged from low levels to a high of 470 parts per billion, with 20 samples recording more than 100 parts per billion.
According to Ongwe, the gold mineralisation becomes stronger and wider towards the eastern side of the prospect.
The company said its easternmost drilling line showed mineralisation stretching more than 80 metres wide.
Ongwe chief executive officer Dave Underwood said the latest results support the company’s belief that the gold system continues further east beneath thick layers of soil and calcrete cover.
He said earlier surface soil testing had suggested the gold zone was ending, but deeper bedrock sampling later revealed stronger underground mineralisation.
Underwood said the company plans to extend its drilling and bedrock sampling programme to continue tracking the mineralisation beneath the surface cover.
The company also plans to test hidden magnetic targets in the area.
Underwood compared the exploration work at Manga to techniques previously used at Twin Hills, where a large gold discovery was made beneath thick calcrete cover.
Ongwe said members of its management team previously worked at Osino Resources, where they were involved in discoveries such as Twin Hills and Eureka in Namibia.
The company is currently focusing on projects in Namibia’s northwest Damara gold belt.
At Omatjete, the Manga prospect already has a gold-in-soil footprint measuring about 4.5 kilometres by 1 kilometre.
At the Khorixas Gold project, Ongwe has identified two surface discoveries known as Belmont and K17.
The Belmont prospect covers an area of about 12 kilometres by 6 kilometres, with several exploration targets already identified.
