Omai Gold Mines drills 3.13 g/t gold over 43.0 metres at Wenot, Guyana

Omai Gold Mines Corp. [TSXV-OMG; OTCQB-OMGGF] reported drill results from the company’s Omai gold project in Guyana. To date in 2024, ten diamond drill holes have been completed totalling 3,732 metres and drilling continues. A second drill commenced in late August. Assays have been received for seven holes and additional assays are pending.

Highlights include – Hole 24ODD078: 2.20 g/t gold over 43.7 metres and 3.13 g/t gold over 43.0 metres. Hole 24ODD-076: 2.89 g/t Au over 22.0 m and 1.48 g/t Au over 22.0 m.

Hole 24ODD-077: 2.46 g/t Au over 18.9 m, 1.01 g/t Au over 25.5 m, 2.08 g/t Au over 10.8 m and 4.19 g/t Au over 4.8 m. Hole 24ODD-075: 1.26 g/t Au over 21.5 m.

Elaine Ellingham, President & CEO, commented, “We are very pleased with these first results from our 2024 drill program and have doubled the size of the program to 10,000 metres. Following completion of our Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Wenot open pit deposit in April, and a C$13m financing in June we prepared plans to drill several high potential areas on the Omai property that we believe will move us towards our goal of significantly expanding the mine plan for Omai beyond our baseline PEA, with higher annual production, a longer mine life and enhanced economics. The April PEA incorporates only 45% of the property’s Mineral Resource Estimate and much of our planned program is also targeting an expansion to our already substantial gold resources.”

The planned drill program for 2024-25 will test several areas, including extensions to Wenot to the east and west, splays identified to the northeast, at depth, and very importantly along the southern side of the Wenot deposit. The Wenot deposit is very large with a strike length of at least 2.4 km and with multiple subparallel gold mineralized zones spanning a 400+ metre width. Additional targets on the Omai property will also be drilled as some are near surface and high-grade that could bolster the grade profile in the early years of a production scenario.

Assays have been received for seven diamond drill holes. Four holes were completed (24ODD-075 to -078), testing large gaps on the south, sediment side of the Wenot deposit that were included in the PEA pit as “waste” but have seen little to no drilling. Gold mineralization within these sediment-hosted zones along strike provides evidence of the potential for these to continue through the gap areas.

Based on these successes testing the “gap zones”, additional holes have been planned and will proceed in the near-term. As per our operating methodology, a limited number of holes will be completed on specific targets and additional drilling on that each target awaits the assay results and interpretive work to optimize the effectiveness of the holes that follow.

Currently, a series of three 150-metre spaced drill holes is underway to test along the Wenot deposit at a depth of approximately 450m. Relative to other deposits in Guyana, the Wenot Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 834,000 indicated ounces of gold grading 1.48 g/t Au and 1,614,000 inferred ounces of gold grading 1.99 g/t Au is quite shallow, with 81% of the 1.9 million ounces within the PEA pit lying above a 330m depth. The very limited drilling below the 350m level presents significant potential to expand the Wenot deposit to depth along the full 2.5 km strike length. The deepest hole to date was 23ODD-064 which intersected multiple gold zones, with the deepest intersection of 5.18 g/t Au over 20.2 m (including 12.7 g/t Au over 7.9m) being at approximately 460m below surface.

Drilling at Omai is expected to continue until early December at which time we expect to commence work towards an updated Mineral Resource Estimate.

The most recent NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate for the Omai property, dated May 21, 2024 includes a Wenot resource of 834,000 indicated ounces of gold grading 1.48 g/t Au and 1,614,000 inferred ounces of gold grading 1.99 g/t Au. For the adjacent Gilt Creek deposit, the NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate is 1,151,000 indicated ounces of gold grading 3.22 g/t Au and 665,000 inferred ounces of gold grading 3.35 g/t Au, prepared by P&E Mining Consultants Inc.

Omai Gold Mines holds a 100% interest in the Omai Prospecting License that includes the past-producing Omai Gold Mine in Guyana, and a 100% interest in the adjoining Eastern Flats Mining Permits. The company announced a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on its Wenot Deposit at Omai in April 2024, showing an open pit operation to produce 1.84 million ounces of gold over a 13-year period, with an NPV5% of US$556 million at a US$1,950/oz gold price. This baseline PEA incorporates only 45% of the property’s MRE and management believes that with additional work the mine plan can be significantly expanded, the economics enhanced, and the open pit resources further increased. An updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 2.0 million ounces of gold (Indicated) and 2.3 million ounces (Inferred) reflects a notable increase as a result of 2023’s successful drilling.