Omai mobilises sixth drill to advance exploration at Guyana gold project
(Kaieteur News) – Omai Gold Mines Corp. has begun mobilising a sixth diamond drill for its Omai gold project in Guyana as it moves to advance exploration of additional targets near existing deposits.
The Canada-based firm is working towards a 2030 production target at its gold project in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), which is projected to produce 6.3 million ounces of payable gold over an 18-year mine life, including peak annual production of 435,667 ounces.
In an announcement on Thursday, Omai said an initial 5,000-metre drill programme is planned, with the first target area already identified, where an eight-hole programme will examine an area that has previously returned successful trenching and drilling results.
An aerial view of Omai Gold Mine (Tagewantie Nokram photo)
The Omai Gold Mine hosts the Wenot open pit deposit and the adjacent Gilt underground deposit. Omai, through its subsidiary Avalon Gold Exploration Inc., owns 100% interest in the mine.
Omai currently has five diamond drills focused on infill and expansion drilling at the Wenot deposit, following the completion of its Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).
Omai President and Chief Executive Officer Elaine Ellingham stated that with the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) completed, infill and expansion drilling continues. She added that the sixth drill will allow the company to pursue several exploration targets identified through geophysical surveys, trenching and previous drilling. According to Ellingham that the company has identified several areas near the Gilt and Wenot deposits that contain gold occurrences, as well as untested geophysical anomalies with signatures similar to those of the main deposits. “We know that there are several areas in the immediate vicinity of the Gilt and Wenot deposits that are rich in gold occurrences, and certain untested geophysics anomalies with similar signatures to those of our main deposits,” Ellingham said.
She explained that much of the company’s exploration work had been concentrated on Wenot because of the early success achieved there and the rapid expansion of the resource through successive NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimates and PEA.
Ellingham said too that additional near-surface deposits could improve the project’s economics by providing higher-grade material for early mill feed. “The team has been anxious to drill some of these additional gold targets and with the PEA completed we can bring this forward as one of our priorities,” she added.
The 5,000-metre programme will begin at the BBH target, located west of the Gilt Deposit. Omai explained that the BBH area is a broad target area extending along a strike of approximately 600 metres. The area is defined by a series of trenches, shallow drill holes and historical data, which have identified numerous occurrences of significant gold mineralisation, including instances of high-grade gold mineralisation at surface.
Source: Kaieteur News
