Explorer Restarts Recovery From Exceptional Placer Gold Deposit

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Omineca Mining and Metals Ltd. (OMM:TSX.V; OMMSF:OTCMKTS) announced it is restarting underground operations at its flagship Wingdam Project in British Columbia's historic Cariboo Mining District.

D&L Mining is working with ground stabilization specialists BAT Construction Ltd. to prepare underground workings before re-entering the paleochannel containing gold-bearing gravels, the company noted.

"With all equipment, mining supplies, and manpower now aggregated on site and operations well underway it is expected that gold bearing gravel recovery will commence in the very near term," the company said in a release.

Following a delay related to geotechnical submissions to the BC Ministry, operations are set to begin under the mine plan utilizing tunnel liner plate and/or grouted fore-poling (spilings) as needed for ground support in advancing into the gold-bearing gravels, Omineca said. 

The entrance heading is located where mining conditions exhibited very dry gravel at the breakthrough from bedrock to gold-bearing paleo-gravels. 

D&L has restarted operations with preparatory tasks including rehabilitating the haulage/access drift, cleanout and upgrading dewatering sumps, ventilation upgrades, bulkhead installation and evaluation/reinforcement of existing bulkheads as necessary, Omineca said.

The company said it will provide further updates as D&L advances into the channel toward the central portion where the highest concentrations of placer gold are known to accumulate.

"The current plan is to continue tunnelling and processing gold-bearing gravels across the full width of the channel followed by excavation both up and downstream within the central portion of the old riverbed," the company said.

Chris Temple of The National Investor in January praised the company's exploration drilling program at the project, and predicted that "we should be hearing some results early in the New Year; and I expect there to be a few different announcements as holes come in."

"As for the underground work," he continued, the company "intimated that (obvious now) we'll also be waiting until the first days of 2025 for a progress report there, although (again!) everything was in place to start gold recovery."

'Highest Placer Gold Concentrations' in Cariboo District?

The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based junior exploration company is pursuing 2.4 kilometers of a rich, placer gold-bearing channel buried 50 meters underneath Lightning Creek in Cariboo.

Geologist Stephen Kocsis has described the channel as "containing some of the highest placer gold concentrations historically reported in all of the Cariboo mining district and perhaps British Columbia that remains unmined."

After Omineca closed a brokered private placement of about CA$2.4 million at the end of last year for exploration expenses, Temple noted that the company was "doubling down on its drilling campaign" to search for more resources. The company said in December that it expected to drill 10 to 17 holes for up to 10,000 meters.

Favorable geology appears to continue at depth according to early observations of results at the project, Omineca has said.

"The host rock and mineralization resemble the gold-bearing vein type mineralization at the neighboring Cariboo Gold Project operated by Osisko Development Corp. (ODV:TSX.V)," the company has said.

Possibly Both Placer, Hard Rock Gold Producer

The original drill pads for the program are situated on or to the west of the Eureka Thrust Fault where several orogenic gold systems have been found along the western side of this geological trend, the company said. In addition to Osisko's project, Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd.'s (SPA:TSX.V) 2.34 (Moz) deposit is 50 kilometers to the south of Wingdam, and Karus Gold Corp.'s high-grade FG discovery is 125 kilometers south of the project. Both are located just west of the Eureka Thrust Fault.

In a September research report, Research Capital Corp. Analyst Bill Newman wrote that the company's separate plans to mine at the project using conventional and tunneling methods will provide a "cost, safety, and execution time advantage" over the "previous grouted spilling method."

"This positive development reinforces our Speculative Buy recommendation," wrote the analyst. "Success in this exploration could position OMM as both a placer and hard rock gold producer, significantly enhancing the project's value."

The Catalysts: Gold on a Roll

The big deal is that gold is shining brighter than ever these days as investors flock to its safe-haven qualities in uncertain times. Spot gold went as high as US$2,956.15 earlier in its session on Monday, according to Reuters, "its 11th record high in 2025."

"U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose a 25% tariff on all car imports to bolster the US economy and reduce the trade deficit, with the tariffs expected to be implemented on April 2," according to a report on Economics.com. "It comes ahead of anticipated talks between the European Trade Commissioner and Trump's trade officials to discuss to avoid an all-out trade war. Trump has previously threatened a 20% tariff on European car imports in 2018." 

Lyle Niedens wrote that for Investopedia last week that the threshold of US$3,000 appears in reach.

"Several Wall Street firms have raised their gold price forecasts to US$3,000 or higher," Niedens wrote. "Goldman Sachs, for instance, cited 'structurally higher central bank demand' for gold in addition to investors' appetite for parking assets in safe havens when it early this week raised its gold-price forecast to US$3,100 by the end of 2025, up from US$2,890 previously."

The writer cautions that some firms aren't as optimistic. Morgan Stanley sees gold slipping by the fourth quarter, he wrote, because "a potential Russia-Ukraine peace deal could damp the central bank demand that helped drive gold higher."

Ownership and Share Structure

The company is about 24% owned by insiders and management, according to the company. The rest is retail.

Top shareholders include 49 North Resources Inc. with 17.41%, Sprott Asset Management LP with 3.49%, President and CEO Thomas MacNeill with 2.99% and Chief Financial Officer/Director Andrew Davidson with 1.37%, according to Reuters.

Omineca has 261.8 million shares outstanding, the company said.

The company's market cap is CA$11.82 million, and its 52-week price range is CA$0.04−0.14 per share.