Ondundu gold deposit, Ondundu, Dâures Constituency, Erongo Region, Namibiai

Regional Level Types
Ondundu gold deposit	Deposit
Ondundu	- not defined -
Dâures Constituency	Constituency
Erongo Region	Region
Namibia	Country

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Sediment-hosted, structurally controlled, mesothermal gold deposit (gold-bearing quartz-carbonate veins) on State owned land, mining area 10 km². Since the 2010s a gold mining project.
Located NNW of the Navachab gold mine, and east of the villages Ondundu and Ondundotjuapa. Also located approximately 190 kilometres south west of the Otjikoto Mine. The main zone has numerous shallow historic gold workings over a strike length of 2,200 metres.

Discovered in 1917, claims where first staked in 1922, a minor gold rush began. Initial production began on alluvial and eluvial workings, with some 11,600 Oz Au reported from 1923 to 1945.

"Ondundu gold mineralization is concentrated in the hinge zone of a large north-south trending, southerly plunging antiform within metasediments of the Kuiseb Formation and features multiple gold-bearing quartz vein sets. Widespread alteration including tourmalinisation, silicification, pyritisation, dolomitisation and albitisation increases in intensity toward the anticline. Mining of the veins along a 2.5 km corridor occurred on a relatively small-scale from five individual claim groups or mining areas from 1917 until 1963 producing an estimated 19,851 ounces of gold (Venter, Carter, 1983). The majority of the historical gold production came from proximal alluvial-eluvial deposits. Underground mining was limited to approximately sixty metres below surface by the water table." (http://www.westportresourcesltd.com/ondundu_gold.htm)

Note: Namibia ministry of mines refers to area as the Ondundu mine and Ondundu gold fields (figure 1, http://www.mme.gov.na/gsn/pdf/gold.pdf).

"Gold mineralization on the Project was first discovered in 1917 and intermittent underground plus alluvial mining took place from 1923 to 1945. Modern day exploration began in the 1980s
(...)
In 1999 a joint venture between Keadeber Resources (Pty) Ltd (75%) and Southern Cross Exploration (25%) completed a 600 kg bulk sample of mineralized material from the OMZ (Ondundu Main Zone). The sample was submitted to the mineral processing division of Mintek Laboratories in Johannesburg. The sizing distribution analysis indicates that the gold occurs predominantly in the coarser size ranges, i.e. +250μm. Approximately 11% of the gold occurs in the -25μm.
(...)
In 2005-2006, Westport completed verification and systematic rock chip sampling, hyperspectral surveys and drilled eleven diamond drill holes totalling 524.7 metres.
In 2007-2008, Westport focused on the potential strike extent of the previously identified mineralization of the OMZ by collecting 3,431 trench channel samples from 18 trenches.
Over the entire Project, a total of 23 trenches were sampled covering an area of 7,000 metres long by 250-300 metre wide.
In 2009, detailed ground geophysical surveys (ground magnetics and ground spectrometry) identified anomalies in the southeast, northwest, east and west of the OMZ that are indicative of further resource expansion potential.
(...)
Exploration work to date has largely focussed on the OMZ area where gold mineralization is confined to bedding within conformable glassy grey laminated quartz-carbonate veins.
Accessory minerals include pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, marcasite, siderite, ankerite and limonite. Minor amounts of sphalerite and galena have been noted.
North of the OMZ, the Zebraberg OD6 Grid area is predominantly Cu/Au mineralized, with complex structural controls demonstrated. Brittle EW fractures have acted as conduits for secondary Cu minerals (malachite, chrysocolla, azurite and cuprite). Up to eighteen breccias blows have been noted in the field, some containing significant amounts of pyrite in the matrix. Numerous gossans have also been noted. Small-scale mining by trenching had been carried out in the 1950s, however no significant ore reserves were defined. Drilling by GFN during the 1980s (5 diamond holes) did not intersect mineable grades."
(...)
Surface and underground mining in four areas: Margarethental (3,400 ozs), Geolex North (500ozs), Chiquita (1,500 ozs), Geolex South/Razorback (2,850 ozs). Apart from the underground workings in the Margarethental and Geolex South areas, past mining activities appear to have been confined to open cuts and trenches on the hillside.
(...)
(http://the-eis.com/elibrary/sites/default/files/downloads/literature/Technical%20Report%20Ondundu%20Gold%20Project%20-%20July%202010.pdf)

Commodity List

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Mineral List

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18 valid minerals.