By June, Canada-based IAMGOLD will announce the findings from the underground exploration for gold conducted at the Omai Gold Mines Limited mine site, a company executive said.

Last year exploration began at Omai to establish the potential for an underground operation on the depth extension of the Fennell deposit, after closing open-pit gold mining operations back in 2005. IAMGOLD Senior Americas Vice President Jacques Perron told Stabroek News recently that the company was studying and analyzing the results from the drilling data. He said the company is in the process of looking at the possibilities for underground mining and before July, and at least by May/June, the results on the data would be available. Perron said it was difficult to make predictions on the data since the geologists are looking at it. Drilling at the Omai site has been ongoing for over a year, which, he said, was projected. The mine currently employs 85 persons, he said.

At its close in 2005, Omai produced 99,500 ounces of gold that year, down from 354,300 ounces in 2001. Perron was formerly the vice president in Canada with Cambior when that company owned Omai. In November 2006, IAMGOLD bought Cambior for more than US$1B and acquired all its operations. Perron leads the Americas division of the IAMGOLD operations portfolio, which includes the gold mining Doyon Division (Quebec), Niobec, a niobium producer (Quebec) and the Rosebel gold mine (Suriname); representing approximately 50% of the company's total production base.

When IAMGOLD bought Cambior they also acquired 70% interest in Omai Bauxite Mining Inc (OBMI) and the utility company Omai Service Inc (OSI), both in the mining town of Linden. The government (a 30% shareholder in OBMI), in February waived its right of first refusal and allowed IAMGOLD to sell its 70% interest to the Chinese company Bosai Minerals Group Co Limited (BOSAI) for US$46M in cash and debt equity, after the two (IAMGOLD and BOSAI) had reached an agreement in December 2006. On March 21, IAMGOLD announced that it was paid US$28.5M in cash, in addition to a reduction of the company's third party debt by US$17.5M.

According to an IAMGOLD press release in February, in 2006 the company produced 642,000 ounces of gold at a weighted average cash cost of US$321 ounce. This represents a 44% increase in production from 2005 and a 16% increase in costs over the same period. The acquisitions in 2006 of Gallery Gold, Australia and Cambior, Canada was said to result in an overall production increase, with the Sadiola and Yatela operations in Mali accounting for a combined production of close to 25%.