Nicaragua-focused Condor Gold (LON:CNR) (TSX:COG) has been granted an environmental permit for the development and exploitation of the Mestiza gold asset, a complementary open pit to the company’s flagship La India gold project, in the country’s west.
The high-grade Mestiza deposit hosts
more than 100,000 ounces of contained gold resources and is one of the two
satellite pits to the fully permitted La India, which is slated to produce
80,000 to 100,000 ounces of the precious metal per year.
“When added to the high-grade La India open pit, Condor has just over 1 million ounces of gold open pit mineral resources, including mineral reserves permitted for extraction,” the company’s chief executive, Mark Child, said in the statement.
He noted that Mestiza has double
the gold grade compared to La India. It is also located within easy trucking
distance (less than 4km) to the firm’s planned and already permitted processing
plant. The facility will have a capacity of up to 2,800 tonnes per day.
With the Mestiza and America feeders in operations, Condor Gold would be able to churn out bout 120,000 ounces annually during a seven-year mine life.
The miner 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 expertise to tap into its reserves.
Last year, the government of Nicaragua granted Condor Gold the 132.1 km2 Los Cerritos exploration and exploitation concession, which expanded the La India project concession area by 29% to a total of 587.7 km2.
Condor also attracted a partner — Nicaragua Milling. The privately held company, which took a 10.4% stake in the company in September, has operated in the country for two decades.