EXPLORATION - URUGUAY
Exploration & Development Strategy
Nico Perez Terrane
Isla Cristalina Belt
Dom Felliciano Belt
Piedra Alta Terrane
Cuchilla Dionisio Terrane






ISLA CRISTALINA BELT



This belt is located 450 kilometers from Montevideo in northern Uruguay and hosts the Company's operating San Gregorio gold mine within the historic mining district of Minas de Corrales.  OMI has near mine, advanced, and regional gold exploration in this belt, as well as an early stage nickel project and a joint venture evaluating iron-ore potential.  

Geology: Proterozoic basement rocks of the of the Nico Perrez Terrane are exposed through an erosional window into overlying Paleozoic sediments forming  a 110km long by 20-40km wide belt called the Isla Cristalina (IC) Belt. The belt is generically referred to as a granite-greenstone belt however the metamorphic grades within the belt range from greenschist to granulite.  Anomalous gold mineralization is present along the entire 110 kilometer strike length of the IC belt and is spatially associated to the regional scale Rivera Shear fault.  The San Gregorio Shear Zone (SGSZ) which controls the San Gregorio gold lodes and related deposits may have formed along a re-activated western section of the Rivera Shear.  Gold deposits are hosted in both metamorphic basement and granitic intrusive rocks that have been dated at 1.2Ba and 0.6BA respectively. Various styles of gold mineralization are present within the IC belt however most of the gold production has come from, quartz-carbonate-sulphide lodes and silica-sulphide stock-work veining hosted along and adjacent to the shear structures.  Typical alteration assemblage of the gold bearing lodes is silica-sericite-carbonate-sulphide with chlorite, calcite and epidote haloes. 

Exploration Potential: During the past 4-5 years structural mapping has been ongoing in conjunction with prospecting, sampling and drilling and has greatly improved the understanding of the IC belt and its mineral potential resulting in the discovery of new prospects and deposits. The OMI exploration team has compiled a comprehensive database across the entire belt that includes gold geochemistry and airborne and ground geophysics. OMI is well positioned to realize additional discoveries in this highly prospective belt.


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Minas de Corrales

Summary: The historic mining district of Minas de Corrales (MDC) forms the western third of the Isla Cristalina Granite-Greenstone Belt and hosts OMI`s main operation; the San Gregorio Mine complex and gold processing facility .  The Minas de Corrales district hosts two significant mining centers; San Gregorio and Zapucay, 29km to the East of the plant facility and has recently initiated a third; Castrillon, 12 km to the north which is a smaller satellite deposit.  A number of additional deposits and prospects are currently in the pipeline for mining and continued exploration in this highly prospective district (see figure for specific deposit names and locations).

Exploration Targets:  Exploration continues focused in the MDC district which covers more than 200 km2 (20km x 10km) of highly prospective terrain containing several mineralized structures.  The district has produced over one million ounces of gold and OMI more than 800,000 ounces currently defined as mineral resources.  As the district has matured so has the appreciation for the structural complexities that host the variety of gold deposits hosted in it.  Shear hosted lode gold deposits in deformed basement rocks continue to be the highest priority exploration target but recent exploration efforts are also focused on the granitiod hosted targets.  Currently, the shear hosted exploration targets are on extensions along strike to the west and east of the San Gregorio Shear zone and include Nueva Australia and Rincon, while the granitoid hosted targets are north and East of the mine site at Castrillon-Sobresalientes and Peru-Picaflor.

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Nueva Australia

The Nueva Australia prospect is interpreted to be the faulted offset and westward continuation of the San Gregorio Shear Zone.  Initially mapping, sampling, geophysics and wide spaced, shallow drilling confirmed the anomalous gold trend and recently, a round of deeper drill holes was completed to test the down dip potential.  The first deep hole intersected 3.7m @ 10.6g/t Au from 445.9m and whilst two follow up holes failed to repeat this initial success OMI feels there is significant potential for additional underground resources  along this 4-5km trend and specific targets have been generated for further drill testing. 


Rincon

The Rincon area appears to be transected by the San Gregorio Shear Zone extending eastwards from Arenal.   An initial surface exploration program identified a number of targets, some with ore grade gold values that were drill tested with no success.  There are several more anomalous areas within this 20 sq.km block of prospective ground that will be followed up and, if justified, drill tested.   


Picaflor And Peru

The Picaflor and Peru prospects are located in the Mina de Corrales granite intrusive 5km and 8km respectively northeast of the San Gregorio Plant.  Quartz-pyrite veins appear to be hosted along a network of NE oriented faults and fractures that continue for more than 5km.   West of Picaflor the structures appear to continue underneath the town of Minas de Corrales where historic workings indicate some amount of production; there are no available records.  East of Peru the structure continues into the Prospect area referred to as Areicua.    

Drilling was completed at Picaflor on 25 meter drill sections at +/- 25m drill spacing resulting in an in-house resource estimate for Picaflor that indicated 106Kt at 2.75g/t for 9,343oz Au.  This estimate is not yet compliant with NI 43-101 reporting standards and therefore is not included as current R&R inventory.  An additional round of infill- definition drilling is planned to update and finalize the resource model at which point the fully compliant results will be reported. 

Drilling to date at the Peru prospect was completed along 50m drill sections and appears to be too wide spaced to be effectively modeled at this time due to the typically erratic mineralization and lack of structural control due to poor outcrop exposure and RC only drilling to date.  Additional drilling is planned for Peru with the objective of defining an initial resource.  


Areicua & Laureles

The Areicua and Laureles prospects are located 10km NE and 12 km east of the San Gregorio plant respectively and lie within and along the edge of one of several granitoid intrusive bodies within the MDC district. 

Laureles is prospective for shear hosted mineralization along and adjacent a fault contact between a granitic intrusive to the north and deformed basement rocks to the south.  Initial drilling identified a single, narrow mineralized shear that includes a small folded zone where mineralization has been concentrated into a short high grade shoot.  Additional drilling and subsequent resource modelling is planned.

The Areicua prospect hosts an abundance of NE oriented quartz-pyrite veins cutting granitic rocks; similar to the Picaflor-Peru prospects 2km to the west but to date has not been drill tested.  Mapping is underway to define first pass drill targets.

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