TIDMCNR
RNS Number : 8556F
Condor Gold PLC
26 February 2018
Condor Gold plc
7th Floor
39 St. James's Street
London
SW1A 1JD
Telephone +44 020 74932784
Fax: +44 020 74938633
26 February 2018
Condor Gold plc
("Condor", "Condor Gold" or the "Company")
PERMITTING UPDATE MINA LA INDIA, REDESIGNED OPEN PIT, NO
RESETTLEMENT
Condor Gold (AIM: CNR; OTCQX: CNFGF; TSX: COG) is pleased to
announce that it has formally submitted an amendment to an
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ("ESIA") to the Ministry
of Environment and Natural Resources in Nicaragua ("MARENA"), which
is part of an application for an Environmental Permit, to construct
and operate a processing plant with capacity to process up to 2,800
tonnes per day ("tpd") or 1 million tonnes per annum ("tpa"),
without the need to resettle approximately 330 houses or 1,000
people.
Mark Child, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Condor,
commented:
"Condor has been in constructive dialogue for several months
with Nicaraguan Government officials at Minister level to permit
the construction and operation of a new gold mine at Mina La India,
Nicaragua. The general feedback has been that permitting will be
much easier if the mine can be redesigned to proceed without
resettling 1,000 people. Condor has accordingly formally submitted
an amendment to the main permit application to proceed without
resettlement.
I am delighted to say that Condor's technical team believe that
the La India Project is both technically viable and economically
attractive to proceed with a redesigned open pit that does not
require community resettlement and also includes the relocation of
the processing plant approximately 1,200 metres from the village.
Mine scheduling studies are on-going, and further details will be
provided in due course. Condor Gold does not anticipate a material
change in the total ounces of gold expected to be recoverable from
the redesigned open pit compared to the open pit disclosed in the
PFS (as defined below)."
Key Amendments to the ESIA
A study has been completed to progress the La India Project
without the need for resettlement of the village of La Cruz de La
India (the "Village"). The main changes are a redesigned open pit,
the relocation of the processing plant 1,200 meters from the
Village, the possible elimination of the southern waste dump, the
elimination of the road relocation in year 3 of production and the
relocation of the explosive magazine. A 5 metre high berm is
planned between the redesigned open pit and the Village to reduce
noise and dust pollution. The mine site infrastructure requirements
will be reduced by over 30% to approximately 500 hectares.
The La India open pit disclosed in the PFS has an existing
probable mineral reserve of 6.9 million tonnes ("Mt") at 3.01 grams
per tonne ("g/t") gold for 675,000 oz gold, as set forth in the
Technical Report (as defined below) that was prepared in accordance
with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for
Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). A revised mine scheduling study is
currently underway. The Company does not expect that the changes to
the La India Project as detailed in the amended ESIA will
materially change the mineral reserves, mineral resources and the
production rate disclosed in the Technical Report.
Background
On 1 December 2015 Condor announced that it had completed an
ESIA and formally submitted an application for an Environmental
Permit to MARENA for the construction and operation of an open pit
mine, a CIL processing plant and associated infrastructure at La
India Project, Nicaragua.
The ESIA is a 700 page document which considers the
environmental and social impacts of gold production from the La
India open pit mine plan detailed in the Technical Report and the
Whittle Enterprise Optimisation study as announced on 20 October
2015. The ESIA draws on data from 15 different environmental and
social baseline studies, some of which commenced in 2013. In
addition to describing the potential impacts of a future commercial
mine on the environment, the ESIA also contains detailed
environmental management plans and social management plans to
monitor and control any such impacts.
The ESIA follows the Terms of Reference issued by MARENA in May
2015 and is the principal document that will be assessed by MARENA
in consideration of awarding the Environmental Permit. The
Environmental Permit is the key permit for mining in Nicaragua.
Many other permits, such as a water management permit, are
conditional upon the grant of an Environmental Permit.
The original ESIA describes a processing plant that will have a
capacity of between 2,300tpd (0.8mtpa)) and 2,800tpd (1.0mtpa). The
processing plant capacity has not been changed in the amended ESIA.
The amended ESIA continues to include processing of an additional
10,000 oz of gold p.a. from artisanal miners through the main
processing plant.
- Ends -
For further information please visit www.condorgold.com or
contact:
Condor Gold plc Mark Child, Chairman and CEO
+44 (0) 20 7493 2784
Beaumont Cornish Roland Cornish and James Biddle
Limited +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
Numis Securities John Prior and James Black
Limited +44 (0) 20 7260 1000
Blytheweigh Tim Blythe, Camilla Horsfall
and Megan Ray
+44 (0) 20 7138 3204
About Condor Gold plc:
Condor Gold plc was admitted to AIM on 31 May 2006. The Company
is a gold exploration and development company with a focus on
Central America.
Condor published a Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") on its wholly
owned La India Project in Nicaragua in December 2014, as summarized
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 seven years. La India Project contains a mineral resource in
the Indicated category of 9.6 Mt at 3.5 g/t for 1.08 million oz
gold and a total mineral resource in the Inferred category of 8.5
Mt at 4.5 g/t for 1.23 million oz gold. The Indicated mineral
resource is inclusive of the mineral reserve.
Disclaimer
Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents
of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website
(or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this
announcement.
Technical Information
Certain disclosure contained in this news release of a
scientific or technical nature has been summarized or extracted
from the technical report entitled "Technical Report on the La
India Gold Project, Nicaragua, December 2014", dated November 13,
2017 with an effective date of December 21, 2014 (the "Technical
Report"), prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. The Technical
Report was prepared by or under the supervision of Tim Lucks,
Principal Consultant (Geology & Project Management), Gabor
Bacsfalusi, Principal Consultant (Mining), Benjamin Parsons,
Principal Consultant (Resource Geology), each of SRK Consulting
(UK) Limited, and Neil Lincoln of Lycopodium Minerals Canada Ltd.,
each of whom is an independent Qualified Person as such term is
defined in NI 43-101.
David Crawford, Chief Technical Officer of the Company and a
Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, has approved the written
disclosure in this press release.
Forward Looking Statements
All statements in this press release, other than statements of
historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to
the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws,
including statements with respect to: the technical viability and
economic attractiveness of the redesigned open pit, the impact of
the redesigned open pit on the Company's mineral reserve, mineral
resources, production rate and total ounces of gold recoverable by
the Company, the Company's intention to provide further details on
mine scheduling, and estimates of mineral resources and mineral
reserves. Forward-looking information is often, but not always,
identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate",
"plan", "continue", "strategies", "estimate", "expect", "project",
"predict", "potential", "targeting", "intends", "believe",
"potential", "could", "might", "will" and similar expressions.
Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future
performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions
of management at the date the statements are made including, among
others, assumptions regarding: future commodity prices and royalty
regimes; availability of skilled labour; timing and amount of
capital expenditures; future currency exchange and interest rates;
the impact of increasing competition; general conditions in
economic and financial markets; availability of drilling and
related equipment; effects of regulation by governmental agencies;
the receipt of required permits; royalty rates; future tax rates;
future operating costs; availability of future sources of funding;
ability to obtain financing and assumptions underlying estimates
related to adjusted funds from operations. Many assumptions are
based on factors and events that are not within the control of the
Company and there is no assurance they will prove to be
correct.
Such forward-looking information involves known and unknown
risks, which may cause the actual results to be materially
different from any future results expressed or implied by such
forward-looking information, including, risks related to: mineral
exploration, development and operating risks; estimation of
mineralisation, resources and reserves; environmental, health and
safety regulations of the resource industry; competitive
conditions; operational risks; liquidity and financing risks;
funding risk; exploration costs; uninsurable risks; conflicts of
interest; risks of operating in Nicaragua; government policy
changes; ownership risks; permitting and licencing risks; artisanal
miners and community relations; difficulty in enforcement of
judgments; market conditions; stress in the global economy; current
global financial condition; exchange rate and currency risks;
commodity prices; reliance on key personnel; dilution risk; payment
of dividends; as well as those factors discussed under the heading
"Risk Factors" in the Company's long-form prospectus dated December
21, 2017, available under the Company's SEDAR profile at
www.sedar.com.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors
that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ
materially from those described in forward-looking information,
there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results
not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no
assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention
or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise
unless required by law.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
MSCBCGDDIDDBGIU
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February 26, 2018 02:01 ET (07:01 GMT)
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