Nicaragua-focused Condor Gold (LON:CNR) has been given an 18-month extension to complete the conditions of an already granted key environmental permit for its proposed open pit at the La India gold project, in the country’s western region.
The company now has until the end
of July 2021 to meet the requirements imposed by Nicaraguan authorities before
the 2,800 tonnes of ore per day gold mine can be built.
This is not the first time Condor Gold is granted an extension. In July last year, it announced that the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resource (MARENA) had given the company an extra year to help it complete technical engineering tests and other studies required prior to construction.
The objective, chairman and chief
executive Mark Child said in the statement, is to de-risk La India project and finish
all studies ahead of a decision to whether go ahead with building the mine.
Condor is also seeking permits for the America and Mestiza pits, which could increase La India’s production by 50% to 120,000 ounces of gold annually during a seven-year mine life
So far, the company has completed the
mine schedule, waste dump plan, as well as water and sewage management study
for the offices and accommodation for the processing plant. The forestry
inventory and reforestation plan of 10 new trees for every tree cut
down has also been finalized, Child said.
Consultants are currently working
on designs for the tailings storage facility and the surface water management
system.
As part of the conditions Condor
Gold is seeking to fulfill, the miner has made offers to buy the surface rights from all
landowners within the mine site infrastructure, 50% of whom have
accepted.
Designs for a fuel station for
backup power are almost completed and studies to connect the processing plant
to the national electricity grid are underway
La India project envisions the
construction of a main pit, which hosts an economic mineral reserve of 6.9
million tonnes grading 3.1 grams per tonne gold for 675,000 ounces of gold in
total.
It also includes two high-grade satellite feeder pits — America and Mestiza — located about 2km and 4km, respectively, from La India’s processing plant. While they are not fully permitted just yet, the smaller pits are expected to increase the main pit’s production by 50% to 120,000 ounces of gold annually during a seven-year mine life.
Condor Gold plans to begin
by mining the “mini pits” first, trucking the ore to a nearby processing
plant.
The company initially staked concessions in
Nicaragua, Central America’s largest country, in 2006. Since then, mining has
significantly taken off in the country due to the arrival of foreign
companies with the cash and knowledge to tap into its reserves.
