Omai Gold drills new high-grade zone at Wenot, reinforcing open-pit potential in Guyana

The company plans an updated resource and PEA next year for what is Guyana’s second-largest undeveloped gold project, currently hosting 2.12 Moz indicated and 4.38 Moz inferred.

Omai Gold Mines (TSXV: OMG; US-OTC: OMGGF) has reported new high-grade drill results from its flagship Omai gold project in Guyana, indicating strong potential to expand the Wenot deposit to the east beyond the limits of the former open pit.

The project, located about 165 km southwest of Georgetown, hosts the Wenot and Gilt Creek targets and sits on the site of the historic Omai mine, which produced more than 3.7 million oz. of gold between 1993 and 2005.

The latest results are led by hole 25ODD-142 at East Wenot, which cut:

• 14.7 metres grading 11.07 g/t gold from 304 metres, including
• 4.3 metres at 34.31 g/t gold.

“We are excited to see a very significant new zone at the east end of Wenot, where there has been limited drilling in the past,” said CEO Elaine Ellingham. “[Drilling at Wenot] has multiple purposes: it is expected to further increase the Wenot resource, to contribute to reducing the strip ratio in the upcoming PEA, and to upgrade some of the Inferred [resource] to Indicated [resource] in the major gold zones.”

East Wenot: expanding the system and refining the model

The East Wenot program has delivered several other strong intercepts, including:

Hole 25ODD-144

• 31.6 metres grading 1.11 g/t gold from 526 metres,
• including 12 metres at 0.98 g/t gold and 13 metres at 0.99 g/t gold.

Hole 25ODD-146

16 metres grading 1.02 g/t gold from 304 metres.

According to the company, the new zone defined by holes 25ODD-142 and 25ODD-146 suggests that the central contact and quartz feldspar porphyry unit may dip to the south in this eastern area, opening up additional room for extensions of mineralization and refinement of the geological model.

Central Wenot: strong grades underscore ‘robust open pit’ potential

In the Central Wenot area, hole 25ODD-145W returned:

• 13.3 metres grading 13.54 g/t gold from 398 metres, including
• 15 metres at 2.01 g/t gold, and
• 6.2 metres grading 27.82 g/t gold.

Ellingham said the results from Central Wenot “illustrate Wenot’s potential for a very robust open pit mine plan.”

The latest assays form part of a 35,300-metre diamond drilling campaign completed this year, covering 79 drill holes across the Omai project. The data will feed into an updated resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment (PEA) expected in the first half of next year.

One of Guyana’s top undeveloped gold projects

Omai ranks as Guyana’s second-largest undeveloped gold project by contained ounces, supported by a growing resource base. A resource update released in August outlined:

Indicated resource: 2.12 million oz. of gold grading 2.07 g/t gold in 31.9 million tonnes.

Inferred resource: 4.38 million oz. of gold grading 1.95 g/t gold in 69.6 million tonnes, almost double the contained ounces in the previous inferred estimate.

The latest drilling is expected to add further ounces, upgrade Inferred to Indicated in key zones, and help reduce the strip ratio in the upcoming PEA, strengthening the economics of a potential large-scale open pit operation at Wenot.

On Monday morning in Toronto, Omai shares were up 3% at $1.25, giving the company a market capitalization of about $794.6 million. The stock has traded in a 12-month range of $0.20 to $1.41.