Omineca Mining and Metals Ltd. (TSXV: OMM) (OTCQB: OMMSF) has announced the discovery of a hard rock (lode) gold zone from its 2025 winter drill program at the Wingdam gold exploration project in the Cariboo Mining District of British Columbia. The initial gold intercepts, located 500 meters west and at depths below the underground paleoplacer project, confirm the company's theory of a proximal lode source for the rich placer gold found beneath Lightning Creek.
The discovery comes 165 years after placer gold was first found in the Lightning Creek valley. The highest-grade intercept, 4.84 g/t gold over 1.07 meters in hole WD25-41, was found in amygdaloidal basalt associated with the Slide Mountain Terrane, an ophiolite sequence known for hosting orogenic gold deposits in British Columbia. This structural association is significant, as similar ophiolitic rocks are linked to major gold camps such as Barkerville, Cassiar, Bralorne, and Greenwood.
The exploration thesis is based on evidence that Lightning Creek historically flowed from west to east, opposite its current direction, due to isostatic depression from glacial ice sheets. This reversed flow, combined with reactivation of the Eureka Thrust Fault, explains why the lode source is now located downstream (west) of the placer deposits. Drilling confirmed the presence of gold mineralization in ultramafic rocks with quartz-calcite veining, supporting the model.
The 2025 program included 3,091.9 meters of drilling in six holes, with core logged by TerraLogic Exploration and samples analyzed by AGAT Laboratories. Hole WD25-41, a follow-up to 2024's WD24-37, intersected the most anomalous gold to date, with visible calcite-quartz veins and disseminated pyrite. Hole WD25-42 returned 1.25 g/t gold over 2.0 meters in a lithic wacke with quartz veinlets and sulfides.
These results validate the company's exploration approach and highlight the potential for a significant orogenic gold system along the Eureka Thrust Fault. The next phase will focus on expanding the footprint of this discovery. Stephen Kocsis, P.Geo., the independent qualified person, has approved the scientific and technical disclosures.
For more details, view the original release at NewMediaWire.
