Shares in Master Investor Show exhibitor Condor Gold (LON:CNR) have shot upwards by 8.85% to 48.98p (as of 16:00 GMT) after infill drilling began at the firm’s La India project. The company’s 4,000m infill drilling programme will help finalise the pit design and schedule ahead of production at the Nicaraguan site.
CEO Mark Child said: “As Condor progresses towards production it has been decided to initiate mine production with high grade starter pits within the permitted main La India open pit and the permitted high grade Mestiza open pit. la India open pit hosts a Probable Mineral Reserve of 6.9 million tonnes (“Mt”) at 3.01 g/t gold for 675,000 oz gold with all-in-sustaining-cash costs of US$690 per oz gold. The La India starter pits are designed pits, the estimated mill feed is 445Kt at 4.17g/t gold for 59,700 oz gold using a 2.0g/t gold cut-off. The starter pits have a maximum depth of 35m and have a relatively low strip ratio. The drill program within the La India starter pits will close-up the sample density to 25 metre by 25 metre spacing and is the final drilling ahead of extraction. Drilling on the high grade Mestiza open pit is expected to start in January 2021. Mining the higher grade will bring forward cashflow, shorten the payback period and enhance project economics.“