Omai, three other Canadian companies to start gold production by 2026 – Dr. Singh

Jan 17, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News – As early as 2026, four Canadian mining companies are expected to start gold production in their respective mining projects in Guyana. This was revealed by Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh during his 2024 budget estimates presentation on Monday.

“Gold mining operations continue to offer profitable opportunities for both international and domestic investors and prospects for gold remain positive both at the large scale as well as the small and medium scale level,” the minister said.

According to Dr. Singh, at the large scale end of the spectrum, exploration activities continue to indicate very strong resource potential of over eight million ounces of gold with ongoing investment in Eagle Mountain, Marudi, Oko West and Wenot mining projects.

“With large scale operations anticipated to start in these locations as early as 2026,” minister Singh continued.

In 2020, Omai Gold Mines re-entered Guyana’s mining industry. The company had said that their work completed thus far, has put them on track to become the next large-scale gold mine to open in Guyana.

Omai holds a 100% interest in the gold project, located in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), which encompasses two gold deposits: the shear-hosted Wenot Deposit and the adjacent intrusive-hosted Gilt Creek Deposit.

The company said that drill results for the Wenot pit has showed significant gold potential which has exceeded their expectations. Omai is expected to update its 3.69 million ounces of gold (indicated and inferred estimates) soon.

Goldsource Mines Inc., another Canadian company, has reportedly hit the jackpot with a high-quality gold find in its 100% owned Eagle Mountain concession located in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).

Not only did the company find high quality gold but it also was able to locate the gold deposit near to the surface. This was disclosed in a 2021 statement the company made on its website disclosing its results from infill and expansion drilling it conducted.

Goldsource Mines Inc. was first heard of in Guyana back in 2014 when its subsidiary, Stronghold Inc, teamed up with a local mining firm, Kilroy Inc to operate a 250-hectare concession at Eagle Mountain. The Canadian company had said back then that a medium-scale mining permit is required under Guyana’s law to be held by a Guyanese national. As a result it was forced to partner with a Guyanese owned company. Not much was heard of the foreign mining company’s operation in Guyana until 2016 when it announced that “it had reached commercial production on Phase I at its 100%-owned Eagle Mountain Gold Project, in Region Eight.”

News of the company’s operation went off the radar again then resurfaced in 2018. Kaieteur News reported in April that year that Goldsource Mines Inc. increased its stakes in Guyana by buying a concession in Region Seven from a local. Those gold lands were known as the Bishop Growler mines and was at the time owned by a Guyanese conducting artisanal mining on the property which measured about 2.5Km2.

Nothing more was heard of their operations in Guyana since then. However, according to the company it had initiated an exploration program to expand the Eagle Mountain resource base back in March 2017. In 2018, it discovered the Salbora area and began drilling there that same year.

In 2020, it commenced the expansion of the other area called ‘the friendly area’ within the Eagle Mountain concession and had also discovered other locations such as the Toucan and Powis Targets along the Salbora-Powis trend. In February 2021 the Goldsource Mines Inc. reported that the mineral resource update for Eagle Mountain Gold Project stands at 848,000 ounces of indicated resources (proven gold resources) and 868,000 ounces of inferred resources (estimated gold resources).

In November 2023, Reunion Gold, which is estimated to hold 4.2 million ounces of gold in Region Seven, submitted its project summary for the Oko West Gold Project Development Phase, to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The company shared promising drilling updates, revealing an initial mineral resource estimate of 2,475,000 ounces of gold in indicated resources and 1,762,000 ounces in inferred resources. Notably, Reunion previously engaged in manganese exploration in Matthews Ridge but has since shifted focus to gold.

Moreover, Romanex Guyana Exploration Ltd (Guyana Goldstrike Inc.) holds a large-scale licence for the extraction of gold and valuable minerals for a total area of 11,110 acres in the Marudi Mountain Mining area.

The mining area is located in the Rupununi District, in southwestern Guyana. The area is approximately 155 kilometers south-southeast of Lethem and 50 kilometers south-southeast of the indigenous village of Aishalton.

A Mining License was granted for the concession by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC); however large scale operations at the site were precluded by invasion of the concession by several medium and small-scale miners. The Ministry of Natural Resources mediated the dispute between Romanex and the miners.

Gold has been known to be present in the Marudi Mountain area since 1934. Ore reserves calculation for the property indicate that at least 3.1 million metric (MM) tonnes of hard rock ore grade material exist in the main body of mineralization at the Marudi Concession with an average gold content of 2.89 grams of gold per tonne. This is the equivalent of 275,000 ounces of gold. In addition to these hard rock resources, a significant volume of material exists on the property of either saprolite or colluvial material that contains more than 1 gram of gold per tonne but has not been thoroughly sampled due to the loose nature of the material. This volume of this material is estimated at 750,000 to 1,200,000 tonnes containing the equivalent of 25,000 to 40,000 additional ounces of gold.

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• Canadian, estimates, gold, Guyana, Mining

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