OMAI Gold Mines Corporation has commenced drilling at its Blueberry Hill site, following the completion of 10 trenches, totalling 580 meters, in January and February.

According to a press release from the company, drilling is progressing well at the site, which is located approximately 500 meters west of the past-producing Fennell deposit.

President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Omai, Elaine Ellingham, said: “Trenching has proven very effective at exposing quartz stockwork systems, allowing us to get better definition on the structural orientations of the targeted horizons. This allows us to be far more focused and effective with the drilling of our exploration targets.”

She went on to say: “With the completion of our maiden resource at Wenot, we have turned our initial focus of the current drilling to our priority exploration targets resulting from our extensive 2021 compilation work.”

Some of those targets were identified in the 1990s but have remained untested. The company, Ellingham said, already completed three holes totalling 501 meters at the Blueberry Hill and Gilt Creek area, west of Fennell, with initial results expected before the end of March.

In January, Omai had reported that it found gold at its Broccoli Hill pit in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

Broccoli Hill is said to be an area located only 300 metres north of the Wenot pit and less than 200 metres east of the Fennell pit. Those two pits combined, produced over 3.7 million ounces of gold.

Broccoli Hill has been worked by artisanal miners for over 100 years. Broad gold anomalies were identified by previous auger and soil surveys and the airborne geophysical signatures are similar to those of the Fennell deposit.

The abundance of past placer gold workings in the lowlands flanking the hill, together with the numerous scattered artisanal workings on the hill itself, indicate a nearby gold source, according to the company.

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 ensure 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 had said.

Guyana Chronicle had 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.