Omai Gold Mines Corp has published a preliminary economic assessment for its wholly owned property in Guyana, setting out plans to revive one of the country's most significant historical mining sites. The assessment combines the Wenot open-pit deposit with the Gilt underground deposit into a single large-scale operation, and projects a mine life of 18 years.

According to the assessment, the project would yield an estimated 6.32 million ounces of payable gold over its lifetime, averaging roughly 351,000 ounces annually. At a base gold price of $3,600 per ounce, the company puts the after-tax net present value of the project at $4.0 billion, with an internal rate of return of 24 per cent. Those figures depend heavily on gold prices holding near current levels, and any material decline would alter the project's returns.

Bringing the mine into commercial production would require substantial upfront investment. Initial capital costs are estimated at $1.427 billion, with a further $928 million in sustaining and growth capital needed over the life of the operation. The all-in sustaining cost of production is projected at $1,608 per ounce, a figure that will determine the project's margins once output begins.

The site sits 165 kilometres south of Georgetown and has the advantage of being a past-producing mine, meaning some foundational infrastructure is already in place. Highway access connects the property to the capital, and an existing airstrip serves the area. Omai first operated as a gold mine in the 1990s before closing, and the company argues that this legacy infrastructure reduces some of the logistical burden that a greenfield project would face.

The economic implications for Guyana extend beyond the mine site itself. Omai has estimated that the project would inject roughly GUY$300 billion into the country's interior economy over its operating life, through wages, local procurement and associated services. The company has also pointed to expected job creation in a region where formal employment opportunities remain limited, though the assessment does not specify precise workforce numbers at this stage.

Guyana's economy has expanded rapidly in recent years on the back of offshore oil production, and mining projects of this scale would represent a further diversification of investment into the country's interior. Officials in Georgetown have previously expressed interest in broadening the economic base beyond hydrocarbons, and a revived Omai operation would give the mining sector a higher profile within that wider strategy. Whether the mine proceeds as outlined will depend on the results of further technical and financial studies still to come, as well as on prevailing gold prices through the construction period.

The preliminary economic assessment is not a final commitment to build the mine. Omai is currently running a 50,000-metre drilling programme intended to expand its resource estimates and convert inferred resources into more reliably measured categories. The results of that programme will feed into further engineering work.

Before any construction decision can be made, the company must complete a definitive feasibility study, alongside environmental permitting and additional metallurgical testing to confirm how efficiently gold can be extracted from the ore. Each of these steps typically takes months rather than weeks, and permitting timelines in particular can be difficult to predict.

Omai's management has framed the assessment as evidence that the project can move forward, but the company has stopped short of committing to a construction timeline. For now, the figures represent a projection rather than a guarantee, dependent on further drilling results, sustained investor interest and the outcome of environmental review processes that have yet to conclude.

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