Omai to integrate underground mining pit resources in updated assessment

Feb 25, 2025 News

…CEO says company working on enhanced production, extension of mine life

Kaieteur News- Canadian firm, Omai Gold Mines on Monday announced promising results from its first drill hole at the Gilt Creek gold deposit, which forms part of the company’s 100%-owned Omai Gold Project in Guyana.

Omai to integrate underground mining pit resources in updated assessment

Omai Gold Mines in Guyana (Omai to integrate underground)

Omai hosts two significant orogenic gold deposits, the Wenot shear-hosted gold deposit, and the adjacent intrusion-hosted Gilt Creek Deposit, with total Mineral Resource Estimates (MRE) totalling 4.3 million ounces (Wenot at 834,000 oz averaging 1.48 g/t Au (Indicated) & 1,614,000 oz averaging 1.99 g/t Au (Inferred) PLUS Gilt Creek at 1,515,000 oz averaging 3.22 g/t Au (Indicated) and 665,000 oz averaging 3.35 g/t Au (Inferred)).

Since its return to Guyana, Omai has been more focused on the Wenot mining pit, where a constrained pit approach is applied. The company has announced that it is now working on the Gilt Creek deposit where an underground mining approach is applied to integrate the Gilt Creek into an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) planned for this year.

The company said, “Incorporating the Gilt Creek underground deposit into an expanded mine plan with the Wenot open pit deposit has the potential to significantly increase projected annual production rates and life of mine for the Omai project.”

For her part, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elaine Ellingham underscored the significance of these results, stating, “In addition to our recent drill results that show strong potential to expand the Wenot resource, the Gilt Creek underground deposit is a major growth lever at the Omai Gold Project.”

Ellingham further explained, “Core samples from this hole will be used to advance metallurgical test work, augmenting data from the historical production. This drilling also assists the underground mine design and planning to incorporate Gilt Creek into an updated PEA anticipated in Q3 of this year, which we expect will significantly enhance the production profile, mine life, and overall economics of the combined Omai Gold Project.”

The company reported that the drill hole (24ODD-095) successfully intersected a 774-metre interval of the gold-bearing Omai Stock, an intrusive rock unit that historically produced 2.4 million ounces of gold between 1993 and 2005. Notably, this marks the first drilling at Gilt Creek since 2007 and extends the known Omai Stock approximately 200 metres laterally beyond previously drilled limits. A second drill hole is planned to further explore the deposit’s potential.

Hole 95 also intersected 38 separate occurrences of visible gold, with assays revealing key highlights such as 2.0 g/t Au over 64m and 1.9 g/t Au over 48m. The average grade across the 774m interval was 1.0 g/t Au. Approximately 61% of the 538 collected samples contained gold concentrations greater than 0.30 g/t Au.

Ellingham underscored the broader implications of these findings, stating, “With these very exciting results in hand, we are planning for a second Gilt Creek drill hole, which will continue to test the lateral and depth extents of gold mineralization.”

The company’s April 2024 PEA only included the Wenot open pit deposit. However, integrating the Gilt Creek underground deposit into the mine plan has the potential to significantly boost annual production rates and extend the mine’s lifespan. The newly acquired data will support metallurgical studies, mine planning, and geological modeling aimed at assessing the full exploration potential of the Omai gold system.

Omai also noted that the intrusive Omai Stock extends beyond the current drill hole, indicating further potential for mineralization. Additionally, the historical Gilt Creek open pit produced 2.4 million ounces at an average of 1.5 g/t Au, and previous drilling by IAMGOLD in 2006-2007 confirmed mineralization down to 967 metres below surface.

It was stated, “the sheer extent of gold mineralization and the first confirmation that the intrusion extends beyond the known limits opens the door to potential expansion.”

The company remains optimistic that further drilling will provide additional insights into the full scale of the Gilt Creek deposit.

As exploration continues, Omai Gold Mines Corp. expects to release an updated PEA in the third quarter of 2025, incorporating the Gilt Creek underground resource into the overall Omai Gold Project development strategy.

(Omai to integrate underground mining pit resources in updated assessment)

(Omai to integrate underground)

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