Ongombo Project

The Ongombo property is situated in central Namibia, 22km northeast of the Otjihase copper mine, and 45km northeast of the capital Windhoek (Figure 1). The Ongombo deposit was discovered by Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company Limited in the early 1970’s by airborne magnetics. The gossanous magnetite quartzite outcrops for sporadic intervals over a strike length of 4.7km. Significant exploration was undertaken over the ensuing years, principally by Tsumeb Corporation Limited and Gold Fields Namibia Limited. The work included more than 132 diamond drill holes and resulted in the definition of four individual ore shoots.

Mineralisation at Ongombo is hosted by amphibolites and associated magnetitequartzites of the Matchless belt. The Matchless belt extends for 400 km through the intracratonic branch of the late Proterozoic Damaran orogenic belt. The Matchless amphibolites represent an intercalation of subsequently metamorphosed basic to intermediate submarine tholeiitic volcanic rocks. The Matchless belt hosts several volcanogenic-exhalative, stratiform and strata-bound cupriferous pyrite deposits containing subordinate and variable amounts of zinc, lead, silver and gold. The average grade of the ten most important deposits is 2.3% Cu, with a range of 1.3-3.9% Cu.

There is a total of 18 individual ore bodies that have been recognized including the Gorob, Matchless, Otjihase, Ongeama and Ongombo deposits. Iron sulphides generally dominate the sulphide mineralogy of the deposits, pyrite being dominant. Chalcopyrite is the most important sulphide economically, although bornite, galena, sphalerite, and marcasite have been historically reported.

Figure 1 - Location of the Ongombo project in Namibia