Condor Gold PLC (LON:CNR) shares rose on Thursday as it said it has “significantly” de-risked and progressed its La India gold project in Nicaragua.
The company has acquired 85% of the land within the permitted La India open pit mine site infrastructure, including the key areas of the location of the processing plant, tailings storage facility, open pit, waste dump area and the explosive magazine.
WATCH: Condor Gold aiming to be shovel-ready at La India by year-end
The tailings facility and two water retention ponds are being designed by Tierra Group, with 40% of engineering designs completed, while the design of the site-wide water balance including a surface water management plan is also underway.
Condor said preliminary designs for the layout of the mine site infrastructure have also been completed, including the designs for the location of the processing plant. The firm has completed mine and waste dump schedules for a number of mining scenarios as well.
The company noted that power studies have progressed, with several meetings held with the Ministry of Energy and Mines in Nicaragua.
Condor is aiming to construct a processing plant with a capacity of 2,800 tonnes per day for the gold mine, which has a 1.12mln ounce open pit mineral resource permitted for extraction.
In a statement, the group’s chairman and chief executive Mark Child said the firm intends to “buy the remainder of the land this year and commence site preparation, while significantly advancing the engineering studies and placing a deposit on a processing plant".
The company's shares were up 5% at 52.5p in mid-morning trading.
--Adds share price--