1,700m Geotechnical Drilling Commenced at Fully Permitted La India Open Pit to a Feasibility Level of Design as Condor moves towards it’s gold production goal
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http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/8606B_1-2021-6-14.pdf
Condor Gold (AIM: CNR; TSX: COG) is pleased to announce that in line with it’s intent to develop La India Mine into a production unit it has commenced a 1,700 metre infill geotechnical drilling programme within the permitted La India Open Pit. Two diamond drill rigs have been deployed to expedite progress. The programme is anticipated to take 5-6 weeks to complete. The geotechnical drilling programme has been designed to achieve a Feasibility Level of design by SRK Consulting (UK) Limited and will complement other ongoing Feasibility Study level work programmes already underway.
Highlights
· The aim of the programme is two fold, one to collect high quality data that will allow for the refinement of pit wall design slopes, potentially positvely impacting on the waste stripping quantities, which if successful, could subsequently positively expand the reserves within La India open pit, particularly if the pit pushes deeper.
· The 2014 PFS was conducted at US$1,250 oz gold. This current work programme will align final pit slopes and future pit designs with current gold market conditions, where it is anticipated that this may push the pit deeper and convert the current underground mineral resource, beneath the pit, into an open pit mineral resource.
· The 1,700m geotechnical drill plan has been planned to achieve Feasibility Study level geotechnical design criteria.
· The drill program will consist of a total of 13 diamond core drillholes ranging in depth from 50 meters to 200 meters from surface with an average length of 131 meters with drilling being conducted with oriented core equipment, followed by either acoustic or optical televiewer logging to confirm structures and rock types.
· Analysis of the resulting information and summary reporting will be provided by SRK.
Mark Child, Chairman and CEO commented:
“The aim of the 1,700m geotechnical drill programme to a Feasibility Study level of design is firstly to collect high quality data that will allow for the refinement of pit wall design slopes to be used in the final pit designs, potentially positvely impacting on the waste stripping ratios and secondly, if successful, positively expand the reserves within La India open pit, particularly if the pit pushes deeper, due to a combination of a change in pit angels and/or a higher gold price is used in future studies.
“The Feasibility Level of designs of the geotechnical study builds on the 2014 Pre-feasibility Study (“PFS”) on La India open pit, which hosts a P robable Mineral Reserve of 6.9Mt at 3.1 g/t for 675,000 oz gold. The PFS was conducted at a US$1,250 gold price. Beneath La India open pit there is an underground Mineral Resource of 678kt at 4.9g/t gold for 107k oz gold in the Indicated Category and 1,116kt at 5.6g/t gold for 209k oz gold in the Inferred Category”.
Background
Condor Gold commissioned a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) in late 2013 to establish the economic potential of the The La India deposit within Condor’s concession in Nicaragua. The PFS was completed in late 2014, demonstrating a Probable Mineral Reserve of 6.9 million tonnes grading 3.1 g/t, fully included within an open pit Mineral Resource of 8,377Kt at a grade of 3.1 g/t gold (837,000 oz contained gold) in the Indicated Mineral Resource category, and a further 883Kt at grade of 2.4 g/t gold (68,000 oz contained gold) in the Inferred Mineral Resource category. Beneath La India open pit there is an underground Mineral Resource of 678kt at 4.9g/t gold for 107k oz gold in the Indicated Category and 1,116kt at 5.6g/t gold for 209k oz gold in the Inferred Category.
The PFS was supported by a geotechnical drilling program employing similar methodologies to those anticipated for the geotechnical study at a Feasibility Study level of design. The drilling programme now underway will increase the data density of the geotechnical characteristics and permit the confirmation and refinement of the PFS work up to Feasibility Study levels of accuracy.
Figure 1: current geotechnical drill programme within the designed La India open pit shell (3D view towards northwest).
About Condor Gold plc:
Condor Gold plc was admitted to AIM in May 2006 and dual listed on the TSX in January 2018. The Company is a gold exploration and development company with a focus on Nicaragua.
In August 2018, the Company announced that the Ministry of the Environment in Nicaragua had granted the Environmental Permit (“EP”) for the development, construction and operation of a processing plant with capacity to process up to 2,800 tonnes per day at its wholly-owned La India gold project (“La India Project”). The EP is considered the master permit for mining operations in Nicaragua. Condor Gold published a Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”) on the project in December 2014, summarised in the Technical Report, as defined below. The PFS details an open pit gold Mineral Reserve in the Probable category of 6.9 Mt at 3.0 g/t gold for 675,000 oz gold, producing 80,000 oz gold per annum for 7 years. La India Project contains a Mineral Resource of 9,850 Kt at 3.6 g/t gold for 1.14 Moz gold in the Indicated category and 8,479 Kt at 4.3 g/t gold for 1.18 Moz gold in the Inferred category. The Indicated Mineral Resource is inclusive of the Mineral Reserve. A gold price of $1,500/oz and a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t and 2.0 g/t gold were assumed for open pit and underground resources, respectively. A cut-off grade of 1.5 g/t gold was furthermore applied within a part of the Inferred Resource. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that any part of the Mineral Resources will be converted to Mineral Reserves.
Environmental Permits were granted in April and May 2020 for the Mestiza and America open pits respectively, both located close to La India. The Mestiza open pit hosts 92 Kt at a grade of 12.1 g/t gold (36,000 oz contained gold) in the Indicated Mineral Resource category and 341 Kt at a grade of 7.7 g/t gold (85,000 oz contained gold) in the Inferred Mineral Resource category. The America open pit hosts 114 Kt at a grade of 8.1 g/t gold (30,000 oz) in the Indicated Mineral Resource category and 677 Kt at a grade of 3.1 g/t gold (67,000 oz) in the Inferred Mineral Resource category. Following the permitting of the Mestiza and America open pits, together with the La India open pit Condor has 1.12 Moz gold open pit Mineral Resources permitted for extraction, inclusive of a Mineral Reserve of 6.9 Mt at 3.0 g/t gold for 675,000 oz gold.
