Condor Gold (AIM: CNR; TSX: COG) has been granted an environmental permit to develop its high-grade America open pit at the La India project in Nicaragua, adding a third permitted open pit to the already permitted high-grade La India pit and the recently permitted Mestiza pit.
The America open pit is estimated to host 114,000 tonnes at a grade of 8.1 g/t gold (30,000 oz contained gold) in the indicated mineral resource category and 677,000 tonnes at a grade of 3.1 g/t gold (67,000 oz contained gold) in the inferred mineral resource category.
Condor has approximately 1.12 million ounces of gold in open-pit mineral resources permitted for extraction
In comparison, the La India open pit hosts 8.37 million tonnes at a grade of 3.1 g/t gold (837,000 oz contained gold) in the indicated mineral resource category and 883,000 tonnes at a grade of 2.4 g/t gold (68,000 oz contained gold) in the inferred category, while the Mestiza open pit hosts 92,000 tonnes at a grade of 12.1 g/t gold (36,000 oz contained gold) in the indicated category and 341,000 tonnes at a grade of 7.7 g/t gold (85,000 oz contained gold) in the inferred category.
Altogether, Condor has approximately 1.12 million ounces of gold in open-pit mineral resources permitted for extraction, inclusive of a mineral reserve of 6.9 million tonnes at 3.0 g/t gold for 675,000 oz gold.
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 chairman and CEO Mark Child.
The company added that 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 La India open pit has lower quartile industry all-in-sustaining-cash cost of $690/oz in the pre-feasibility study, based on a gold price of $1,250/oz.
Shares of Condor Gold jumped 23.6% to a near 52-week high on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of C$68.3 million.