SOME 1.6 million ounces of gold have been detected at Omai Gold Mines’ Wenot Pit, located in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
This discovery, according to Omai, represents a significant milestone for the company which has since lost its reputation of being South America’s largest producing gold mine.

The official announcement of the find was made on Tuesday, via a press release, which quoted the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Elaine Ellingham, as saying that the mineral in the Wenot pit gives Omai a very solid base from which to expand the property’s total potential gold resources.

“Not only is the Wenot deposit open along strike and at depth, it is located approximately 400 metres south of the past-producing Fennell open pit that hosts a significant historical gold mineral resource that also remains open at depth,” Ellingham added.

The press statement noted that initial Wenot mineral resource justify the potential to expand the known deposits and, together with Fennell’s historical mineral resource, demonstrate 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 said.
She related that, since late November, with the Wenot mineral resource drilling completed, Omai shifted its focus to commencing exploration for near-surface mineralisation that has the potential for additional ounces amenable to open-pit mining.

In issuing her congratulations, Ellingham said that Omai’s exploration team was able to deliver notable results, even amid the many challenges that were presented by the novel coronavirus 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,” Ellingham said.

She expressed great confidence that the very exploration team will drive further exploration successes for the company, in 2022.

According to the press release: “Omai Gold Mines Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiary Avalon Gold Exploration Incorporated, holds a 100 per cent interest in the Omai Prospecting License covering 4,590 acres (18.575 sq. km) that includes the past-producing Omai gold mine, and a 100 per cent interest in the adjoining Eastern Flats Mining Permits covering 1,519 acres.”

In its prime, Omai produced over 3.7 million ounces of gold between 1993 and 2005. However, mining eventually ceased at a time when the average gold price was less than US$400 per ounce, leaving significant drilled mineral resources untapped and prime exploration targets untested.

“The company’s short-term priorities are to verify and expand the known mineral resources, while advancing exploration on key targets, providing a solid opportunity to create significant value for all stakeholders,” the company said.

It was only recently that the Guyana Chronicle reported on Omai’s intention to restart its operations with an initial investment of US$12 million.
It was reported that the company had wrapped up operations in 2015 after 24 years of service in Guyana.

With its return, the company said that, in addition to engaging and potentially supporting small miners, it also had plans to employ hundreds of people. In its earlier days, the company had in excess of 1,000 persons in its employ.

Currently, there are over 25 mining companies active in Guyana as well as large-scale oil producers like ExxonMobil, which are investing heavily in Guyana’s infrastructure and workforce.

This “economic renaissance,” as described by Omai, has led the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to rate Guyana as the fastest growing economy in the world, and determine that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$3.5 billion is expected to triple within the next five years.

The country’s potential is undoubtedly one of the reasons for the company’s return, and, just October 1, 2020, Omai announced that it had completed its previously announced reverse takeover transaction in which it acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Avalon Investment Holdings Inc. (“AIHL”), a private Barbados corporation.

AIHL is the parent company of Avalon Gold Exploration, a Guyanese company which is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and potential development of precious metal mineral properties in Guyana, including the former Omai Gold Mines located in the Omai/Potaro Mining District No.2.