Omai Gold releases Guyana mine development update
Omai Gold Mines Corp. [OMG-TSXV, OMGGF-OTCQB] said it has commenced meetings with government officials in Guyana after being granted exclusive rights to apply for a mining license for its 100%-owned Omai Gold property.
The move comes after the company recently announced the results of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the Wenot deposit at Omai. The PEA envisages an open pit operation capable of producing 1.84 million ounces of gold over 13 years. 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.
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.
On Tuesday Omai said it has appointed Marcel Cameron as the company’s Country Manager, Guyana. Cameron is a mining engineer with 25 years of experience in mine planning, engineering, and project management for large-scale open pit and underground operations in North and South America, Africa, Southeast Asia and Guyana. He will be responsible for managing and advancing operations at the Omai project, overseeing permitting, and community engagement, and leading the company’s broader business activities in Guyana.
“His extensive hands-on experience with technical and mine planning for advanced stage projects will drive forward the next phase of work at the Omai gold project,’’ said Omai President and CEO Elaine Ellingham.
Cameron is a Guyanese citizen. Ellingham said his early career experience at the Omai mine, when it was a large-scale 300,000 ounce-per-year operation, is invaluable, giving him an excellent base knowledge of the property and its potential to be re-developed as a large scale mine.
Ellingham went on to say that the company’s PEA provides a solid mine plan and economics, while incorporating less than 45% of Omai’s current mineral resource estimate. “This alone presents obvious opportunities,’’ she said. “We are confident that with some additional drilling along strike and even within the PEA pit at Wenot, we can incorporate additional known resources and some of the adjacent gold occurrences that could expand the mine plan and more importantly boost the overall economic return.’’
On Tuesday, Omai shares eased 3.4% or $0.005 to 13 cents on volume of 250,500. The shares trade in a 52-week range of 18.5 cents and $0.035.