Canada-based Omai Gold Mines on Thursday announced that its mineral resource estimate across its gold property in Guyana has more than doubled.
In a statement, the company explained that this updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) is based on its two gold deposits – the shear-hosted Wenot deposit and the adjacent intrusive-hosted Gilt Creek deposit – both located in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
“This updated Mineral Resource Estimate includes an expansion to the Wenot Mineral Resource which was announced in January 2022 and incorporates the Gilt Creek Deposit that lies below a former pit that produced 2.4 million ounces of gold. Together, these deposits contribute to a more than doubling of the Company’s Mineral Resource Estimate on the Omai Property,” OGM stated.
According to OGM, this 1,907,600 ounces of gold (Indicated) Mineral Resource Estimate is a 171 per cent increase over the January MRE of 703,300 ounces; while the 1,777,600 ounces of gold (Inferred) is an 89 per cent increase over the January MRE of 940,000 ounces.
With regards to the Gilt Creek Deposit, which is north of the Wenot Deposit and below the past-producing Fennell Pit, some 1,151,000 ounces of gold (Indicated) at a grade of 3.22 g/t Au and 665,000 ounces of gold (Inferred) at a grade of 3.35 g/t Au were recorded.
The company said an underground mining approach was applied for this MRE. It was further noted that the Deposit is open to depth and holds the potential for lateral expansion.
In relation to the Wenot Deposit, the 756,600 ounces of gold (Indicated) is an eight per cent increase over the initial January 2022 MRE. This new estimate shows that the 1,112,600 ounces of gold (Inferred) was an 18 per cent increase, while 1.34 g/t Au grade of Indicated MRE was a two per cent increase and 1.72 g/t Au grade of Inferred MRE was a 15 per cent increase.
For this MRE, a constrained pit approach was applied at the Deposit, which has excellent exploration potential along the Wenot shear corridor.
“We are extremely pleased with the results of this updated 2022 Mineral Resource Estimate. In addition to more than doubling our NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate in nine months, we were able to accelerate and exceed our goal of bringing the Gilt Creek Gold Deposit and a Wenot Deposit expansion into the Company’s MRE before year end 2022,” President and Chief Executive Officer of OGM Elaine Ellingham said.
The Wenot Mineral Resource Estimate incorporated 10,647 assay results from 579 diamond drill holes totalling 81,991 m within the mineralized wireframes. The Gilt Creek Mineral Resource Estimate, on the other hand, incorporated 7,056 assay results from 46 diamond drill holes totalling 27,997 m within the mineralised wireframes.
According to OGM President, “While modelling and evaluating the historical data on the Gilt Creek Gold Deposit earlier this year, we were impressed by the extent of the gold-bearing quartz stockwork and disseminated mineralization within this lower part of the Omai quartz-diorite stock. We are pleased that the higher density of drilling within the upper part of this deposit allowed two-thirds of the Gilt Creek Deposit MRE to be classified as Indicated, and at the 1.5 g/t Au cut-off grade, the 1,151,000 Indicated ounces are at an average grade of 3.22 g/t Au. It is significant that mining of the upper 250m of this intrusive produced 2.4 million ounces of gold, illustrating the robust potential of this deposit. The Gilt Creek Deposit holds potential to expand both laterally, where there has been limited drilling, and to significant depths, providing the potential for expanding the Gilt Creek Deposit through future drilling.”
CEO Ellingham went onto note that the company’s initial plan was to complete further drilling on the Wenot Deposit prior to this MRE. However, the opportunity to accelerate the inclusion of Gilt Creek into the MRE drove the decision to proceed with the updated MRE rather than continuing with Wenot drilling at the time.
Nevertheless, she pointed out that when drilling resumes later this year, additional drilling at Wenot will be included as part of the program and is expected to contribute to future Mineral Resource updates.
“The Wenot shear corridor can be traced 8 km (kilometres) across the Omai Property. Wenot’s past production of 1.37 million ounces of gold plus our current Wenot Mineral Resource Estimate is both hosted within about 2.5 km of strike along this shear corridor. Much of the corridor has seen little exploration and it is one of our priority areas for both our current and 2023 exploration programs,” Ellingham posited.
Meanwhile, OGM said that while the Mineral Resource Estimates have been underway, the exploration team commenced a geochemical survey along the eastern extension of the prolific Wenot shear corridor. The shear and the central shear contact can be traced at least an additional 5 km east of the Wenot pit, across the Omai Property and this is a high-priority area for exploration. The combination of anomalous gold values in historic auger samples and magnetic data suggests several areas along this trend as holding potential for new discoveries.
It was noted that trenching has commenced on the lower flank of Broccoli Hill in the vicinity of a large magnetic feature that we believe could be another intrusive body, similar to that hosting the Gilt Creek Deposit. The compilation is underway on the exploration work completed earlier this year in a number of areas, to refine drill targets.
According to the gold company, there are several interesting target areas across the Omai Property that warrant exploration and we will balance investigating their potential with continuing to build Mineral Resources at the Wenot and Gilt Creek Deposits.
In the past 18 months, OGM said it has been very successful at building a substantial Mineral Resource base. For the remainder of 2022 and into 2023, the company expects to continue this strategy of expanding its Wenot Mineral Resource in the short term, balanced with pursuing targets with high potential for significant new discoveries.
