The Ondundu goldfield, located about 70 kilometres northwest of Khorixas in the Kunene Region, is where Namibia’s gold story truly began.
It was here, more than a century ago, that the country’s first organised gold-mining operations took shape.
From hand-dug pits and simple sluice boxes in 1917 to modern exploration drills and 3D geological models in 2025, Ondundu remains a thread linking the early colonial prospector to the contemporary mining engineer.
Gold at Ondundu was discovered in 1917 by German geologists H. Martin and A. Range, who were mapping the central Damara Orogenic Belt for the German Colonial Geological Survey.
Their reconnaissance work identified auriferous quartz veins in the Omaruru District, within the Kuiseb Formation schists and marbles. Martin’s 1919 publication, Beiträge zur Geologie der Goldlagerstätten Südwestafrikas, describes visible gold associated with pyrite, chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite in northeast-trending quartz veins.
The discovery prompted small-scale claims, and by 1921, several syndicates were operating under colonial concession rights.
These included the Ondundu Gold Syndicate, which worked shallow eluvial and alluvial zones, and the Consolidated Gold Fields of South West Africa Ltd., which introduced basic mechanised mining and built primitive gravity-processing plants near the Khan River tributaries.
Despite limited technology, Ondundu became Namibia’s first significant gold-producing area.
Production data compiled by the Ministry of Mines and Energy show that from 1917 to 1963, the field yielded about 614 kilograms of gold, mostly from oxidised ore and weathered near-surface veins during the pre-independence era, making Ondundu the country’s only goldfield of commercial note.
The geology of the field
The Ondundu deposit lies on the northern limb of the Damara Belt and is hosted in the Kuiseb Formation metasediments of the Swakop Group.
Gold occurs within a network of quartz-carbonate veins and disseminations controlled by shearing and folding. The host rocks consist mainly of graphitic schists and marbles, intruded by dolerite and pegmatite dykes.
Mineralisation is typically associated with sulphides — pyrite, arsenopyrite and minor chalcopyrite — with gold occurring as fine inclusions or along grain boundaries.
These structural and lithological controls make Ondundu geologically similar to many orogenic gold systems worldwide. The deposit extends over a strike length of roughly 10 kilometres and remains open both along strike and at depth.
Interwar and post-war mining
After the 1920s, the field saw intermittent mining. Small-scale underground operations were carried out at Razorback, Western Zone and Margarethental, with miners following quartz veins to depths of less than 50 metres. The limited grade continuity and high costs of transport, water and supplies eventually reduced profitability.
During the 1930s, the colonial government issued new prospecting leases to private operators. By the 1950s, Consolidated Gold Fields of South West Africa had taken control of most claims, attempting deeper exploration to test below the oxidised zones.
Although gold grades improved with depth, the limited technology of the time made underground mining unviable. Operations were finally abandoned in 1963, marking the end of the first gold-mining era in Namibia.
Geological Survey records and legacy
The Geological Survey of South West Africa preserved detailed maps, trench logs and assay results from Ondundu. These documents later formed the foundation for modern exploration across the Damara Belt. Geologists such as H. Martin, A. Range and Dr Siegfried Passarge are credited with identifying the structural trends that would later guide exploration toward deposits like Navachab and Twin Hills.
Ondundu’s geological setting demonstrated that Namibia’s metamorphic terrains — once considered barren of gold — could host orogenic mineralisation similar to that of South Africa’s Barberton or Tanzania’s Lake Victoria belts.
Dormancy and rediscovery
Following independence, interest in Ondundu revived intermittently. During the 1990s and early 2000s, exploration companies such as Westport Resources, through its subsidiary Omatjete Mining, re-evaluated the area with geochemical sampling and limited drilling.
Their results confirmed residual mineralisation, but not at scales sufficient for investment.
A new phase began in the 2010s when Forsys Metals Corp., a Canadian junior, acquired the Ondundu licences (EPL 3195 and EPL 3197) and undertook trenching, soil surveys and diamond drilling.
The work delineated mineralised zones including Razorback and Margarethental, confirming near-surface gold mineralisation.
B2Gold acquired full ownership of the Ondundu Gold Project on January 19, 2022, when it exercised its call option to purchase the remaining 51 per cent stake held by Forsys Metals in Razorback Gold Mining Company (Pty) Ltd, the Namibian licence holder for EPL 3195.
This followed several years of technical work and joint studies between the two companies. Shortly after consolidating ownership, B2Gold agreed to sell the project to Osino Resources in a transaction dated December 31, 2021, and completed on July 21, 2022.
The deal, valued at about US$15.2 million, was settled through the issuance of 11,630,628 Osino shares to B2Gold, giving Osino full control of Namibia’s oldest goldfield.
Osino Resources and the modern phase
After acquiring Ondundu, Osino described the project as an advanced brownfields opportunity complementing its flagship Twin Hills development near Karibib. The company reinterpreted historical datasets and applied modern structural and geochemical analysis. Its 2023 technical summary reported that gold mineralisation remains open along strike and at depth, with several higher-grade shoots potentially mineable under current gold prices. New targets were identified west and south of the historic workings through soil sampling and airborne magnetics.
By 2024, Osino had incorporated Ondundu into its broader Namibian portfolio, which was subsequently acquired by Shanjin International Gold (formerly Yintai Gold). Under Shanjin, the project is expected to advance through infill drilling and feasibility evaluation alongside Twin Hills.
Economic and historical significance
Ondundu’s importance extends beyond its modest production figures. It was Namibia’s first proven gold deposit and the training ground for generations of geologists who later mapped the country’s mineral provinces. Its legacy helped shift perceptions of Namibia from a copper-uranium province to one capable of hosting economic gold systems.
Today, Ondundu remains part of Namibia’s evolving gold narrative. This project began in 1917 under colonial geologists and continues today under international ownership, linking more than a century of exploration in one continuous story.
