TIDMCNR
RNS Number : 8472W
Condor Gold PLC
06 August 2018
Condor Gold plc
7th Floor
39 St. James's Street
London
SW1A 1JD
Telephone +44 020 74932784
Fax: +44 020 74938633
6 August 2018
Condor Gold plc
("Condor", "Condor Gold" or the "Company")
CONDOR GOLD RECEIVES ENVIRONMENTAL PERMIT TO CONSTRUCT AND
OPERATE A NEW MINE AT LA INDIA PROJECT, NICARAGUA
Condor Gold (AIM: CNR; OTCQX: CNFGF; TSX: COG) is pleased to
announce that it has received an environmental permit for the
development, construction and operation of a processing plant with
a capacity of up to 2,800 tonnes per day ("tpd") and associated
mine site infrastructure at its wholly-owned La India Gold Project,
located in the Department of Leon, Nicaragua.
Mark Child, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Condor,
commented:
"I am delighted that the Ministry of the Environment and Natural
Resources ("MARENA") has granted Condor Gold the key Environmental
Permit for the development, construction and operation of a
processing plant with capacity to process up to 2,800 tpd. Gold
production is expected to be approximately 80,000 oz gold per annum
from a single open pit, represents a US$120 million investment and
creates 1,000 new jobs.
"The receipt of the Environmental Permit is a tribute to the
hard work and dedication of Condor Gold's team on the ground, they
are 100% Nicaraguan nationals; I am proud of their achievements. It
also marks the culmination of 11 years of detailed scientific
geological work and technical mining studies at La India Project,
including three years of the permitting process. The local team
share the Company's vision of working with the local communities to
alleviate poverty, provide employment and significantly raise
living standards in a former mining community by building a new
gold mine. The grant of the permit is also an important sign of
commitment by the Nicaraguan Government to the mining industry in
the Country.
"Following the grant of the Environmental Permit the Company's
objective is to progress the redesigned mine site infrastructure
for La India Open Pit to a bankable level of Feasibility Study
("BFS"). In addition, under the conditions of the Environmental
Permit, the Company has to submit to MARENA final engineered
designs for several key components of the mine prior to
construction. For example, the final design and operations manual
for the Tailings Storage Facility. Subject to financing, completion
of a BFS and completion of the final engineering designs,
construction is expected to commence within 18 months of the grant
of the Environmental Permit. The construction period is expected to
take 18 to 24 months."
Background
On 13(th) July 2018, the Company held its Public Consultation
Meeting in the village of La Cruz de La India. The Public
Consultation is a key step in the Environmental and Social Impact
Assessment ("ESIA") permitting process. The meeting was attended by
representatives from MARENA, the Ministry of Energy and Mines
(MEM), the National Forestry Institute (INAFOR) and a variety of
businesses, municipal authorities, a non-governmental organisation,
local judicial and political party representatives, as well as
members of the public. The Public Consultation was attended by 499
people who voiced overwhelming support for a new mine. 600 people
have registered to be considered for new jobs to work in the mine.
See announcements on 26 February 2018, 15 May 2018, 6 July 2018 and
16 July 2018.
Condor is re-permitting an old mine area, adjacent to a former
mining community, in which 40.5% of households can be categorised
as being in poverty. Noranda Mining produced an estimated 576,000
ounces of gold with a grade of 13.4 g/t gold over an 18-year period
prior to the closure of the underground La India Mine in 1956.
Since the closure of the mine, the village of La Cruz de La India
has hit hard times. It is located in a hilly, dry corridor of
Nicaragua with few alternative forms of employment. An independent
economic report produced in October 2017 by FUNIDES, a local
economic study group, estimated that the former mining town of La
Cruz de La India has a 40.5% Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (the
index used by Santo et al., 2015, to measure the poverty of 17
Latin American countries and which measures five wellbeing
dimensions: living conditions, basic services, income, education
and employment). The construction and operation of a new gold mine
will significantly reduce poverty, as it will create 1,000 jobs;
for every job in the mine there is an additional three to five
times more indirect jobs providing services to the mine. The
upfront capital cost of building the project of approximately
US$120 million would have a significant positive impact on the
economy. The Government and local communities would benefit
significantly from future royalties and taxes.
During the past 12 months, Condor has significantly increased
and strengthened its social team. Contributions to the local
community have increased significantly via the weekly distribution
of 360 five-gallon drinking water containers and material
contributions to local healthcare, education, sport, the elderly
and artisanal miner projects.
The Company has listened to the concerns of the local community
and redesigned the mine site infrastructure to avoid any
resettlement.
The La India open pit disclosed in the Pre-Feasibility Study
("PFS") has an existing probable mineral reserve of 6.9 million
tonnes ("Mt") at 3.01 g/t gold for 675,000 oz gold, as set forth in
the Technical Report (as defined below) that was prepared in
accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of
Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). Revised mine
scheduling studies have been significantly advanced in recent
months. Gold production is expected to be approximately 80,000 oz
gold per annum. 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.
The amended ESIA describes a processing plant that will have a
capacity of up to 2,800 tpd (1.0 million tpa). The amended ESIA
continues to include processing of an additional 10,000 oz of gold
p.a. sourced from artisanal miners through the main processing
plant.
Next Steps
Following the grant of the Environmental Permit the Company's
objective is to progress the redesigned mine site infrastructure
for La India Open Pit to a bankable level of Feasibility Study
("BFS"). In addition, under the conditions of the Environmental
Permit, the Company has to submit to MARENA final engineered
designs for several key components of the mine prior to
construction. For example, the final design and operations manual
for the Tailings Storage Facility. Subject to financing, completion
of a BFS and completion of the final engineering designs,
construction is expected to commence within 18 months of the grant
of the Environmental Permit. The construction period is expected to
take 18 to 24 months.
The Current Situation in Nicaragua
As a British company, listed on both the London AIM and Toronto
TSX stock markets, Condor Gold believes in, and promotes,
constructive dialogue for a peaceful resolution of the current
political upheaval in Nicaragua. The situation has stabilised in
recent weeks. The Company's focus has been, and still is, to
support its 70 direct and indirect employees, and their families,
who have confirmed their desire to continue to work and maintain
stability within their communities as much as possible. Condor has
been operating in Nicaragua since 2006 and, as a responsible gold
exploration and development company, continues to add value to the
local communities and environment by generating sustainable
socio-economic and environmental benefits. Despite the current
political situation in Nicaragua, Condor has completed a permitting
process that has taken three years. The Company held very
constructive meetings in recent months with the key Ministries,
which resulted in approval of the technical studies, a successful
Public Consultation and the grant of the key environmental permit
for the development, construction and operation of a new gold mine
at Mina La India.
- 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 Limited Roland Cornish and James Biddle
+44 (0) 20 7628 3396
Numis Securities Limited John Prior and James Black
+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 as far as it relates to the
technical studies relates to the Technical Reports, mining studies
and geology.
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 news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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