Omai estimates potential for 1.6M ounces of gold at Wenot Pit

…includes both “indicated” and “inferred” estimates

Canadian company Omai Gold Mines Limited (OGML), which had concluded its drilling programme at the Wenot Pit last year, has now announced that the pit has the potential for over 1.6 million ounces of gold, including both indicated and inferred resource estimates. This is estimated at $627 billion Guyana dollars.
According to a statement from the company, the Wenot Pit’s initial mineral resource estimate stands at 703,300 ounces of gold, out of 16.7 million tonnes of indicated mineral resource averaging 1.31 grams of gold per tonne.
Omai further explained that there is a further estimated 940,000 ounces of gold in the Wenot Pit, out of 19.5 million tonnes of inferred mineral resource at 1.50 grams of gold per tonne. These results, Omai explained, were gleaned from 549 drill holes that total 21,541 metres.
An indicated mineral resource is an estimate that has a higher level of reliability than an inferred mineral resource. According to the company in its statement, it is optimistic that its inferred mineral resource can be upgraded to indicated over the course of time.
Omai went on to explain in the statement that its “2022 exploration will focus on expanding mineral resources along strike and at depth at Wenot, while advancing on other priority targets, and revisiting Fennell, which hosts a significant unmined historical resource, and is also open at depth”.
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Omai, Elaine Ellingham meanwhile described the results as a significant milestone for Omai Gold. She noted that a potential mineral resource of over 1.6 million ounces of gold at just one pit – Wenot – lays a solid foundation for the company to expand its resource base.
She also noted the Wenot Deposit’s proximity, approximately 400 metres south, to the Fennell open pit which has historically held significant gold deposits and which the company plans to explore more deeply this year.
“The Omai Gold Mine produced over 3.7 million ounces of gold(iii) between 1993 and 2005. Since it operated and was shut-down during a sub-US$400/oz gold price environment, known extensions to the Wenot and Fennell open pits were not pursued, nor were the many near mine exploration targets.”

“This initial Wenot Mineral Resource attests to the potential to expand the known deposits and together with Fennell’s historical mineral resource, demonstrates the potential to re-build Omai into a multimillion-ounce project. We also see potential elsewhere on the property for additional Wenot-type and Fennell-type deposits.”
Ellingham also recalled that since late November 2021, once drilling in the Wenot Pit had been completed, the company had shifted its focus to commence exploration for near-surface mineralisation. This was with open-pit mining in mind. Ellingham also lauded the exploration crews for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our exploration team is to be especially congratulated for delivering results while safely facing the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their experience and dedication allowed us to complete the company’s first NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate on the timeline set out at the end of 2020. I have great confidence that this team will drive further exploration successes in 2022,” she said.

Last year, Omai had announced its impending move to the Fennel pit, having concluded its drilling programme under the old Wenot mine. When it comes to the Fennell pit, the company had said it would start its drill programme there in the second quarter of 2022. It was explained that previous explorations by gold company Iamgold at the pit in 2007 established Fennell as a primary target on Omai.
“This drilling identified a significant gold deposit beneath the past-producing pit. The Fennell pit produced 2.4 million ounces between 1993 and 2004. It was mined to a depth of 250m where it bottomed at a barren diabase sill. After production ceased, Iamgold completed the exploration beneath the sill and completed a resource report.”
“This drilling reached a maximum depth of about 960 metres with the deepest holes ending in mineralisation, suggesting even further depth potential. Omai has started modeling this historic data and plans to initiate a drill program on the Fennell target in Q2 of next year. This work will require deeper holes to verify the historic resource and to explore the depth extent of this mineralisation,” Omai had explained.
Omai Gold Mines, which returned to the Wenot and Fennell pits at the Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) site in 2020 after leaving Guyana in 2015, had announced in December 2020 that it would be pressing forward with the 5000-metre drilling programme.