Condor Gold PLC (LON:CNR)(TSX:COG) has been granted an environmental permit to develop its high grade America open pit at the La India project in Nicaragua.
The America open pit is calculated to host 114,000 tonnes at a grade of 8.1 grammes per tonne in the indicated mineral resource category and 677Kt at a grade of 3.1 g/t gold inferred.
When added to the already permitted high grade La India and the Mestiza permit added last week, Condor has 1.12mln oz gold open pit mineral resources, including mineral reserves permitted for extraction.
The company also has the permit to construct and develop a processing plant with capacity of up to 2,800 tonnes per day at La India.
“The permitted high grade America open pit and recently permitted Mestiza open pit adds flexibility to the mine schedule, potentially improving project economics and extending the life of mine,” said Mark Child, Condor’s chairman and chief executive.
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Grades at America compare to La India’s 8,377Kt at 3.1 g/t indicated and 883Kt at 2.4 g/t inferred.
Condor noted that the significance of the eight-year environmental permit for the America open pit was that it has a higher gold grade than the La India open pit and adds a third permitted open pit at the project.
“The America and Mestiza open pits are likely to be mined earlier to reduce the payback period on the plant and equipment and improve the internal rate of return,” the company said.
La India open pit has lower quartile industry all-in-sustaining-cash cost of US$690 per oz gold in the pre-feasibility study, based on a gold price of $1,250 per oz.
“A third permitted open pit adds flexibility to the mine schedule…The America open pit is located within easy trucking distance and less than 2km from the location of the permitted processing plant.”
The permit requires exploitation to begin within 18 months of the grant of the permit, although this can be extended for a further two 18 month periods, and requires Condor to carry out a reforestation programme, planting 10 new trees for every tree cut down.
Condor, which is running a number of mining studies ahead of a construction decision to optimise the project, said it intends to complete the ongoing mining dilution studies and pit optimisation studies to incorporate their results in a mine production schedule.
Ahead of production, Condor aims to complete infill drilling on the Mestiza and America open pits to convert the majority of mineralised material to the indicated mineral resource category.