SURREY - Condor Gold (AIM: CNR) (TSX: COG) is pleased to announce the completion of the geotechnical drilling for the upcoming Feasibility Study (FS) at its 100% owned La India Project (the 'Project').
Further to the update of 19 October 2021, the programme required a total of 2,551.50 m of oriented core drilling backed by the use of optical and acoustic televiewer scanning, as well as geotechnical lab testing on core samples. This new information is in addition to the data set developed for the Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) which consisted of 11 geotechnical holes for a total of 1,836.25 m, and 12 resource drill holes for a total of 2550.43m which have been logged for geotechnical purposes.
Both the PFS and the current FS geotechnical programmes were designed and were being monitored by SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd ('SRK'), which included a recent site visit by a senior geotechnical consultant. The primary objective of the geotechnical programme is to upgrade the PFS work to an FS level.
Mark Child, Chairman and CEO commented: 'The completion of an additional 2,551.50 m of geotechnical drilling for a total of 3,251,50 m of geotechnical drilling to date in support of the slope stability assessment, which includes pit slope angles, represents a significant milestone in the completion of the Feasibility Study for La India Open Pit. The geotechnical analysis will establish the design parameters for the ultimate pit design and the intermediate phases, which in turn will govern the detailed production schedule that underlies the Feasibility Study due in the first quarter of 2022.'
As noted, the objective of the additional geotechnical drilling was to update the understanding of the pit slope stability to a Feasibility Study level of design. The initial 1,700 m was completed in September 2021. Following a review of the results by SRK the programme was extended with an additional five drill holes to further refine the dataset and provide better coverage of key areas of the pit wall. The final data collection from 21 drill holes, including 4 holes that were re-drilled, for 2,551.50 m of drill core was completed on the 19 November, with acceptance of the programme by SRK confirmed the following week.
Laboratory analysis of the mechanical characteristics of the rock mass units was awarded to Agapito Associates Inc and Advanced Terra Testing Inc, both in Colorado, USA and has been conducted in parallel with the geotechnical drilling program.
Results of the slope analysis by SRK are expected in December 2021 and will govern the ultimate pit limits designed for inclusion within the mining schedules for the Feasibility Study planned for the 1st Quarter 2022.
About the La India Project and La India Open Pit
Condor announced an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment Technical Report (PEA) on 9 September 2021, which has subsequently been filed on SEDAR. A highlight of the PEA is the open pit and underground scenario producing a Post-Tax NPV5 of US$418M, IRR 54%, average production of 150,000 oz gold p.a. for 9 years and payback 12 Months. The La India open pit represents the largest proportion of open-pit production for the La India Project. La India open pit inventory in the PEA, which combines an Indicated Mineral Resource and Inferred Mineral Resource, consists of approximately 8.34 million tonnes of ore grading 2.56 g/t with 79.62 million tonnes of waste for a strip ratio of 9.5 to 1.
Contact:
Mark Child
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7493 2784
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.
On 25 October 2021 Condor announced the filing of a Preliminary Economic Assessment Technical Report ('PEA') for its La India Project, Nicaragua on SEDAR https://www.sedar.com. The highlight of the technical study is a post-tax, post upfront capital expenditure NPV of US$418 million, with an IRR of 54% and 12 month pay-back period, assuming a US$1,700 per oz gold price, with average annual production of 150,000 oz gold per annum for the initial 9 years of gold production for combined open pit and underground operations. The open pit mine schedules have been optimised from designed pits, bringing higher grade gold forward resulting in average annual production of 157,000 oz gold in the first 2 years from open pit material and underground mining funded out of cashflow.
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 has purchased a new SAG Mill, which has mainly arrived in Nicaragua. Site clearance and preparation is at an advanced stage.
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 M oz gold open pit Mineral Resources permitted for extraction.
CONDOR GOLD PLC 
