Another ‘excellent’ gold discovery by Omai in Guyana

Aug 23, 2023 News

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Kaieteur News – Canadian Gold Company, Omai Gold Mines on Tuesday revealed that they have made another ‘excellent’ gold discovery in their Wenot pit, located in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

Omai is one of the few large-scale foreign mining companies working in Guyana. 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.

In a press statement on Tuesday, the company noted that assays have been received for an additional hole drilled in the Wenot target. It was also stated that to date, fourteen holes have been completed totalling 5,235 metres, as drilling continues.

Elaine Ellingham, President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Omai, said “Our recent drilling that has focused on expanding the Wenot deposit has been very successful. These results for hole 230DD-065 are excellent, intersecting a 127m wide well-mineralized rhyolite-diorite dike complex with two very wide gold zones, one 27.5m wide and a second 25.5m wide.”

Moreover, Ellingham added that, “The current drilling of the Wenot target area remains focused on: 1) testing some of the undrilled gaps within the Wenot deposit model to increase the resource, 2) expanding the western “starter pit” area, and 3) providing evidence of the vast open potential at depth for the Wenot deposit. These new results and recent results with wide and good grade zones are expected to positively impact the resources as we move forward to an updated mineral resource estimate expected in late September, with an expected decision to proceed with a preliminary economic assessment (“PEA”) immediately thereafter.”

Furthermore, on July 17, 2023, just three weeks after Canadian gold company, Omai Gold Mines announced drilling results showing significant gold deposits in their Wenot pit –the company announced “similar excellent drill results.”

On June 22, the company in a press release disclosed that within the first six months of 2023, it has drilled 11 holes which showed significant gold in their Wenot pit.

In their July statement, Ellingham, said: “similar to our excellent drill results from a couple of weeks ago, these new results again confirm the significant expansion potential for the Wenot deposit, to depth as well as along the flanks.”

The company had disclosed that since their return to Guyana’s gold industry, they have been expanding their search in their pits as well as increasing the depth at which they search for gold. Ellingham had noted that the results so far have proven to be fruitful.

As the foreign companies continue to explore Guyana’s gold fields, the government is yet to deliver on its promise to make all mining contracts public.

While foreign companies have been rushing to cash in on the “gold fever” in Guyana, the country has been suffering massive declines in its annual declarations since 2017.

Kaieteur News had made several requests for the Government of Guyana to release the mining contracts, particularly large-scale mining contracts.

In 2019, when Guyana became a member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the country agreed to adhere to several requirements. In this case, EITI requirement 2.4 (a) of the 2019 Standard states that Guyana should publicly disclose all mineral agreements entered into force prior to the reporting period, in this case, 2019. Although the requirements were known to the administration, it continued to make excuses to avoid the release of these contracts.

In this vain, this newspaper reported in December 2022 that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo dodged the matter on four different occasions. During a press conference in April however, he publicly committed to releasing the fiscal terms for all mining agreements. This was the second time the Vice President promised to “personally intervene” for the release of the fiscal terms of all large-scale mining contracts.

The Vice President made a similar commitment in August 2022 during an appearance on ‘The Glenn Lall Show’ aired on Kaieteur Radio. While appearing on that radio programme, he told the Kaieteur News’ publisher, Glenn Lall, “I don’t see the reason why many of these are not in the public domain already. I’ll find out about it.”

When pressed further Jagdeo said, “I can undertake to find out with you there, what the GRA [Guyana Revenue Authority] is so cagey about that it doesn’t want to release… I will undertake anything that is non-propriety that you get it. I will personally now see that this happen.” However, despite the promises by the Vice President, the contracts remain hidden.

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• Canadian, company, Cuyuni-Mazaruni, gold, Omai Gold Mine

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