Latest update April 3rd, 2026 12:35 AM
Omai applies for environmental authorisation for gold project
…to start community consultation in two weeks
(Kaieteur News) – Canadian miner Omai Gold Mines Corp. has submitted its application to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for environmental authorisation for its Region Seven gold project.
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elaine Ellingham, speaking during a recently aired Crux Investor interview, said she is currently in Guyana to advance the permitting process. “Part of the reason I’m here is because our permitting application; we got our environmental permit last November using that previous PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment) but we’ve applied for an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment),” she said.
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Omai Gold Mines Corp., Elaine Ellingham
She noted that the EPA has already issued the public notice. “So we have our application in and so, our next process is doing our community consultation. So actually somebody this morning just handed me the notice, that it’s out for public comment and in fact I have community consultation meetings, two weeks from now,” Ellingham stated.
She also explained that while the mine plan is being updated, the project’s general layout remains unchanged. Omai’s CEO noted, “I think the footprint that we’re looking at is very similar to what we had before, it’s just the larger pit and the underground portal still looks the same.”
A notice published on the EPA’s website states that Omai’s subsidiary, Avalon Gold Exploration Inc. has applied for environmental authorisation for gold mining and processing within Permit Licence #03/2024 at the confluence of the Essequibo and Seballi Rivers, Omai, in the Potaro Mining District.
EPA noted that an EIA is required because the proposed operation, involving both open-pit and underground mining, may have significant environmental impacts. As such,the agency invited members of the public to submit written comments or raise issues they wish to see addressed in the EIA. The public have up to December 17 to submit their comments to: “The Chairman, The Environmental Assessment Board, eabguyana21@gmail.com.”
A summary of the project can be viewed on the EPA’s website or uplifted at the EPA’s Office address below, at the reasonable cost of photocopying.
Omai holds a 100% interest in the past-producing Omai gold project, which hosts two orogenic gold deposits: the shear-hosted Wenot Deposit and the adjacent intrusive-hosted Gilt Creek Deposit. Earlier this year, Omai announced an updated combined Mineral Resources Estimate (MRE) of 2.1 million ounces of gold (indicated), a 7% increase, and 4.3 million ounces of gold (inferred), a 92% increase from the previous MRE.
Once a prolific gold producer from 1993 to 2005, the mine yielded 3.8 million ounces of gold, producing an average of more than 300,000 ounces of gold per year during a period when gold traded below US$400 per ounce. Since its return to “mining-friendly” Guyana, Omai has revitalised the property, which benefits from much existing infrastructure. Of the two gold deposits located on the property, Omai has been more focused on the Wenot “superpit”.
With gold trading above US$4,000 per ounce, Ellingham has insisted that the operation will remain strong even if global prices ease. She contended that Omai’s Guyana gold project stands out because of its grade profile.
She outlined that early 2025 assay results for Wenot revealed exceptionally strong intercepts. Ellingham said, “These are the widest, best intercepts ever for Wenot…When you’re seeing things like that you can add the ounces quickly.” Those results prompted Omai to accelerate drilling. In November, the company announced it had added a fifth rig at Wenot, just two months after deploying a fourth rig in September.
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