Omai Gold names Ellingham as Executive Chairman
Omai Gold Mines Corp. [OMG-TSXV, OMGGF-OTCQB] has appointed Elaine Ellingham as executive chairman and Derek Macpherson as lead director.
Ellingham continues in the role of president and CEO of Omai Gold, a position she has held since 2021. She has been instrumental in building and leading a team that has discovered significant gold resources at the company’s gold project in Guyana.
Completion of a positive preliminary economic assessment earlier this year is a solid advancement for the project and a tangible milestone for the company.
An updated NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate announced in February, 2024, includes 2.0 million ounces of gold in the indicated category and 2.3 million ounces of inferred material.
The preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the Wenot deposit envisages an open pit operation capable of producing 1.84 million ounces of gold over 13 years with a net present value at 5.0% of US$556 million at a gold price of US$1,950 per ounce. This baseline PEA incorporates only 45% of the property’s mineral resource estimate, and management believes that with additional work, the mine plan can be significantly expanded, the economics enhanced and the open pit resources further increased
When it was developed as a large scale mine in 1992 by Canadian company Cambior, Omai ranked as the largest gold mine in the Guiana Shield. From 1992 to 2005, it produced 3.7 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 1.5 g/t gold from two open pits. The mine was producing an average of 300,000 ounces of gold annually.
Mining ceased at a time when the average gold price was less than US$400 an ounce. As a brownfields project, the company has said Omai benefits from good road access and a wealth of historical data that provides knowledge of the geology of gold mineralization on the property, as well as metallurgy, historical recoveries and many other relevant mining parameters.
“I am pleased to accept the role of executive chairman and I am committed to a continued focus on creating value for our shareholders,” Ellingham said in a press release. “Drilling is wrapping up this week at Omai, with plans to restart drilling very early in the new year. We expect that 2025 will be another year of delivering strong results for our shareholders.’’
Omai was in the news recently when the company said it has commenced meetings with government officials in Guyana after being granted exclusive rights to apply for a mining license for its Omai Gold property.
On Wednesday the shares were unchanged at 20.5 cents and currently traded in a 52-week range of 21 cents and $0.055.