‘Potential for new discoveries very high’ – Omai CEO

Jul 12, 2023 News

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 …elated that the previous team didn’t explore entire mining property

Kaieteur News – Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President, of Canadian Company, Omai Gold Mines Corporation, Elaine Ellingham, has stated that “the potential for new discoveries is very high” for their mining operations in Guyana.

Ellingham was at the time speaking during an interview with Sagacity Capital Media in March 2023. Notably, this interview was done prior to the mining company’s announcement of the new significant gold discoveries.

During the interview, Omai’s CEO gave a complete overview of the company’s operations since its re-entry into the Guyanese mining industry.

Firstly, Ellingham was why Omai returned to Guyana. “Well, I think like all businesses, we have to look for exceptional opportunities. And so Guyana, it’s on the north flank of South America. There’s a Greenstone belt there. So, I mean, if you’re looking for gold, you look for places where, you know, there’s usually Greenstone belts, there’s histories of gold mining, a good solid jurisdiction where the government is pro mining, pro development, and also there’s been some fairly significant acquisitions of other companies that were active in Guyana with the premiums to market, so it’s really emerging very quickly as a destination for exploration mining,” she said in response.

Omai holds a 100% interest in the Omai gold project in Guyana, which produced over 3.7 million ounces of gold between 1993 and 2005. The property hosts two gold deposits: the shear-hosted Wenot Deposit and the adjacent intrusive-hosted Gilt Creek Deposit.

The updated NI43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate, released in October 2022, more than doubles the initial Resource announced in January 2022 by expanding the Wenot Mineral Resource and incorporating the Gilt Creek Deposit that lies below a former pit that produced 2.4 million ounces of gold.

The CEO was also asked why the company left Guyana.

Ellingham explained that Omai had “fell into a kind of strange time.” According to her, as soon as the company came into production, gold prices dropped. However, she noted, “They made money despite that.”

She added that the company also took advantage and acquired a very large project in neighbouring Suriname. Ellingham stated that the company wanted to build the mine economically, so they relocated the mill.

To this end, the CEO underscored that Omai’s relocating in the past has worked out for the present team working in Guyana gold fields.

“Why that’s great for us is because, of course, they didn’t completely deplete the resources, they didn’t explore underneath the existing deposits that they were mining, and they didn’t explore elsewhere on the property. So it kind of sets it up perfectly for us,” she added.

Ellingham was then asked about the company’s rebuilding of its resources in Guyana and exploration activities.

She explained that while she is not sure if Omai has beaten its world record, she highlighted that within two years, the company was able to double its gold resources.

“With our first drilling (two years ago)…and after the first nine months of drilling, we published our first (resource estimate) of 1.8 million ounces and then we’ve drilled last year and we actually doubled that to 3.6 million ounces. So we are working around the past producing deposits, but one we’ve been able to drill below and along strike and we know it’s still open along strike and at depth and then the other one was the historic resource below the other. And so we were able to remodel that data and we were actually quite delighted at what came out of it because just remember this was in production when the gold price was under $400 and we’re now at you know, over $1800. So very, very different. What the resource looks like and yeah, it bodes very well for the future,” the Omai CEO said.

Ellingham shared that for the company’s outlook, they have identified a number of “very interesting” targets as Omai moves ahead with its plans to expand its existing resources.

The CEO noted that with Omai sitting on 3.6 million ounces, their market cap is under $30 million. She shared, too, that the company is trading at about $8 per round.

“Guyana, is a very desirable location, and so I think there’s part of that, but you know, in our exploration, we believe we’ll reach success in a very small area on our property, which is two kilometres by two kilometres, so seven and a half million ounces between what was mined and what we’ve discovered. So that’s just a very small part of the property. So I think the potential for new discoveries is very high,” she added.

In June, Omai announced that within the first six months of 2023, it had drilled 11 holes that showed significant gold in their Wenot pit, located in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

To this, Ellingham, said, “These impressive new drill results continue to confirm the magnitude of the Wenot deposit, by demonstrating strike and depth continuity of significant gold mineralization. We have not seen any limitations to the Wenot deposit, and as such are confident that additional drilling can further expand the gold resources. At Wenot, 88% of the NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate lies above a 300m depth and the few holes that tested below confirm continuity and suggest that grades may increase with depth, particularly at the west end of the deposit.”

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• Elaine Ellingham, of Canadian Company, Omai Gold Mines Corporation, resident, Sagacity Capital Media

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