…studies for economic assessment of finds underway
Canadian gold company Omai Gold Mines Corporation, has announced the discovery of multiple gold zones at its Wenot mine in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), where 16 drill holes have been completed for the year that total 6,131 meters.
This was announced in a statement, in which the company announced the findings from a diamond drill hole in West Wenot. It was explained that this drill encountered multiple gold zones, including a 70-meter-wide intercept with gold grades “well above the current Wenot resource estimate grade.”
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Omai, Elaine Ellingham, described the results as a further demonstration of the extent of wide gold zones that exist in the western portion of the Wenot deposit… in particular zones with good gold grades.
“This area, west of the past-producing Wenot pit, is particularly attractive as a potential area for initial mining. We are pleased with the results to date from this recently completed drill campaign, that exceeded our expectations,” Ellingham said in the statement.
“They are not only expected to have a positive impact on the upcoming update to the Mineral Resource Estimate, but also have highlighted a high potential area for further expansion of the Wenot deposit. It is important to note that the Wenot shear corridor, which is up to 500m wide in the central portion, hosts 4 to 5 main gold-bearing zones.
According to the executive, most of these zones can be identified along the full 2.5 km strike length of the Wenot deposit. At present, additional studies are underway on the findings, which will contribute to the preparation of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).
“With this phase of drilling completed, we await assay results for the remaining five holes, which are expected shortly. Once received we can proceed with an updated Mineral Resource Estimate that will form the basis of a PEA to commence thereafter. Certain baseline studies that will be part of the PEA are complete and others are underway,” the executive said.
Meanwhile, the company noted that “historical mining and deposit models did not adequately pursue the sediment hosted gold zones lying on the southern flank of the main Wenot gold-mineralized shear.”
Back in February 2022, Omai had announced that it would continue drilling at its Region Seven location since it believes that even more deposits of gold are available at the Wenot deposit. Prior to that, the company had filed a technical report with SEDAR, which supports the 16.7 million tonnes of indicated gold and 19.5 million tonnes of inferred gold it had announced the Wenot deposit held back in January.
In this technical report, consultant P&E Mining explained that extending the Wenot deposit is expected to cost US$2.65 million and be completed in the next 12 months. According to the report, it was explained that exploring these targets could provide opportunities for open-pit mining.
In January 2022, Omai Gold Mines had announced the discovery of significant gold values during initial trenching and drilling on the Broccoli Hill target at its Region Seven holdings. The company had disclosed that trenching exposed a quartz-rich shear zone with samples assaying 29.3 g/t Au, 7.8 g/t Au, 5.0 g/t Au and 2.2 g/t Au along a 40-metre strike.
Additionally, the first round of drilling on Broccoli Hill, totalling 690 metres, intersected gold mineralisation with four of the six holes returning assays greater than 1 g/t Au and as high as 4.04 g/t Au over 0.9 m and 0.91 g/t over 6.8 m.
Omai Gold Mines, which returned to the Wenot and Fennell pits in 2020 after leaving Guyana in 2015, had announced in December 2020 that it would be pressing forward with a 5000-metre drilling programme.
