Canadian-listed Ongwe Minerals says ongoing bedrock drilling at the Manga prospect within its Omatjete Gold Project in Namibia has confirmed a 2km-long in-situ gold anomaly that remains open towards the east beneath thick calcrete cover.
The company said recent fire assay results from the current drilling programme returned values ranging from background levels to a high of 470 parts per billion, with 20 samples grading above 100 parts per billion.
According to Ongwe, mineralisation at Manga is increasing in both grade and width towards the east, with the easternmost completed drill line recording mineralisation across an 80-metre width grading above 200 parts per billion.
“Mineralization widens and remains open towards the east, with increasing bedrock assay results underneath thick calcrete cover indicating potential to improve the overall size, quality and economic discovery potential of the Manga prospect,” Ongwe Minerals said.
The company said drilling is continuing eastward as it expands the bedrock sampling programme to further define the mineralised zone beneath soil and calcrete cover.
Ongwe chief executive officer Dave Underwood said the latest drilling results confirmed that higher-grade mineralisation extends beyond the original surface anomaly identified in late 2024.
“When the Manga surface discovery was first made in late 2024, a series of scout RC holes were drilled across the centre of the anomaly, which intercepted wide, low-grade mineralization. It is now clear that these holes were drilled more than 1km west of the start of higher-grade mineralization,” Underwood said.
The company said the current programme has also shown that the strongest surface soil anomalies do not necessarily correspond with the highest-grade bedrock mineralisation.
“The surface soil anomaly dissipates towards the east, however by using the well proven bedrock sampling technique we have been able to define a significant expansion of mineralization at the Manga prospect under cover,” Underwood said.
Ongwe said the drilling campaign at Manga forms part of a broader regional exploration strategy across its Namibian portfolio, which includes the Omatjete, Khorixas and Outjo gold projects located within the Northwest Damara Gold Belt.
The Omatjete Gold Project covers about 151,800 hectares and includes the Manga prospect, located about 40km along strike from the Kokoseb gold deposit discovered by WIA Gold.
The company said it has completed 3,766 metres of reverse circulation bedrock sampling at Manga, bringing total drilling completed across the Manga and Belmont prospects to 7,736 metres.
“As VP Exploration at Osino Resources between 2016 and 2024, we pioneered and successfully used this exploration technique which ultimately resulted in the large-scale Twin Hills gold discovery,” Underwood said.
Ongwe also confirmed that multiple field teams are currently conducting regional soil sampling east of Manga across the wider Omatjete licence area, which covers approximately 150,000 hectares.
