Ongwe begins Nguni gold hunt
Ongwe Minerals has started its first drilling campaign at the newly identified Nguni gold prospect in Namibia, where soil sampling has outlined a gold anomaly extending for more than 6 kilometres (km).
The company has mobilised two drill rigs to the target, which lies 17km east of its Manga gold discovery at the Omatjete Gold Project.
One diamond drill rig will test the highest-grade sections of the anomaly, with 18 holes planned for about 3 500 metres. A second rig will use reverse circulation (RC) drilling to test lower-priority areas along the anomaly, with 13 holes planned for about 1 500 metres.
Nguni was identified in May during regional soil sampling along the Okondeka Fault Zone, a geological structure that also hosts WIA Gold's Kokoseb gold deposit and Ongwe's Manga discovery.
Follow-up sampling at Nguni has identified 50 soil samples containing more than 300 parts per billion (ppb) gold, with the highest result at 1,310ppb. The company says the anomaly extends for more than 6km.
The results are from soil sampling and do not yet establish the presence, size or grade of an underground gold deposit. The drilling is intended to determine whether the surface anomaly is associated with continuous gold mineralisation in the underlying rocks.
Ongwe said the diamond drilling would provide detailed geological, structural and mineralogical information, while RC drilling would allow the company to test additional targets more quickly and at lower cost.
The initial drill programme may be expanded or adjusted depending on geological observations and assay results.
Manga drilling
Ongwe also plans to drill five diamond holes for about 1 000 metres at the eastern extension of its Manga prospect, 17km west of Nguni.
Manga was identified during regional soil sampling in late 2024, which outlined a gold and arsenic anomaly about 4.5km long and up to 1km wide.
The company subsequently completed trenching and 11 RC holes, with 10 returning anomalous gold results. One hole, MRC006, intersected 138 metres at 0.22 grams of gold per tonne.
Further exploration using bedrock sampling beneath calcrete cover indicated that the Manga mineralised zone becomes wider and higher grade towards the east, according to Ongwe.
The planned diamond drilling will test this eastern extension, with holes expected to average about 200 metres in depth.
Ongwe also plans further calcrete sampling east of the current bedrock sampling area. If the results indicate that the mineralised trend continues, the company intends to carry out additional bedrock sampling before considering further drilling.
