Omineca Mining and Metals Ltd. (TSXV: OMM) (OTCQB: OMMSF) has announced a significant hard rock (lode) gold discovery at its Wingdam exploration project in the Cariboo Mining District of south-central British Columbia. The discovery, which came from the 2025 winter drill program, confirms the company's theory that a proximal lode source fed the rich paleoplacer gold found in the underground workings beneath Lightning Creek.
The initial gold intercepts were drilled 500 meters west of and at depths lower than the elevation of the Wingdam underground paleoplacer project. Notable results include 4.84 g/t gold over 1.07 meters in hole WD25-41 (from 158.98 to 160.05 meters) and 1.25 g/t gold over 2.0 meters in hole WD25-42 (from 345.00 to 347.00 meters). These findings are particularly significant because they align with recent empirical evidence from the underground placer workings indicating that Lightning Creek flowed from west to east (opposite its present direction) when the gold was eroded into the valley, suggesting that the source lies downstream of the placer deposits.
The discovery is the culmination of 165 years of exploration in the Lightning Creek valley, where placer gold was first found in the 1860s. The company's exploration thesis is based on geological changes caused by the Cordilleran glacial ice sheet, which isostatic depression shifted the watershed flow direction. This weight caused the Fraser River to reverse its flow about 760,000 years ago and Lightning Creek to change from flowing east to west approximately 200,000 years ago. These forces, combined with potential reactivation and subsidence of the Eureka Thrust Fault, explain why the lode source is now located downstream at depth.
The highest-grade intercept from the program was found in amygdaloidal basalt associated with the Slide Mountain Terrane, which is dominated by ophiolites—ancient seafloor thrust upward. These ultramafic oceanic crustal rocks are affiliated with many of British Columbia's orogenic gold camps, including the Barkerville Gold camp (Osisko Development) 30 kilometers east, the Cassiar gold camp, the historic Bralorne mining camp, and the Greenwood Mining District. This structural association strengthens the potential for a significant orogenic gold system at Wingdam.
The company's exploration plans will focus on expanding the footprint of this discovery. The 2025 drill program completed 3,091.9 meters in six NQ diamond drill holes, with core logged and sampled by TerraLogic Exploration. The program was designed to follow up on mineralization found in 2024, targeting areas downdip of ultramafic unit mineralization intersected in WD24-37 and along the mapped Eureka Thrust Fault.
WD25-41 was a downdip follow-up of WD24-37, which had anomalous gold concentrations of 870 ppb Au from 93.40 to 95.40 meters in brecciated and faulted ultramafic amygdular basalt. The hole intersected the most anomalous gold result to date, with sample F722656 displaying localized fracturing and containing 2.0-6.0 cm calcite-quartz veins and disseminated pyrite traces. WD25-42 targeted the magnetic high outlined by the 2024 UAV magnetic survey and intersected mineralization at greater depth.
The discovery of lode gold in close proximity to the underground paleoplacer validates the company's exploration model and opens a new chapter for the Wingdam project. With the hard rock source now identified, Omineca will intensify its investigation of hydrothermal gold mineralization associated with the Eureka Thrust Fault. The next phase of exploration will focus on the immediate vicinity of this exciting discovery, with details to be announced once finalized.
