LONDON, Nov. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Condor Gold
('Condor', 'Condor Gold' or 'the Company') (AIM: CNR) is pleased to
announce, further to its 30 August
2017 announcement, the final six drill hole results from a
43 drill hole programme on the Mestiza Vein Set ('Mestiza') at the
La India Project, Nicaragua. A
drill programme of 5,922 metres was completed in August with the
initial focus on the Tatiana Vein, one of the four constituent
veins at Mestiza, along with the nearby Buenos Aires and Jícaro veins. The objective
was to convert the upper part of a historic Soviet mineral resource
(2,392,000 tonnes at 10.2 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold for 785,694
ounces of gold) to Canadian NI 43-101 standard however this has now
also developed into allowing Condor to better understand the extent
of the mineralisation and further resource potential at Mestiza,
which is open along strike beyond the Soviet resource. It is now
considered that drilling below 200m, as further detailed below, is
required to determine the volume of the historic Soviet resource
that can be converted to NI 43-101 standard.
Highlights:
- 5,922 metres completed, with drilling restricted to the top 200
metres (below ground surface), which demonstrates excellent
continuity of the structures, high-grade ore from surface, and open
pit potential
- A high-grade oreshoot ('Big Bend') on the Tatiana vein is
defined over a strike length of 450 metres and depth of 200 metres.
It has mineralised true widths up to 4.6 metres (averaging 2.2
metres over the main mineralised section), in addition to a hanging
wall vein up to 6.1 metres true width (averaging 1.0 metre)
- Best results received from the final six drill holes (totalling
850 metres) include:
-
- LIDC378 drill width 0.50 metres (true width 0.4 metres) at 17.4
g/t gold and 3.0 g/t silver from 77.30 metres downhole depth.
- LIDC383 drill width 1.40 metres (true width 1.1 metres) at
18.50 g/t gold and 22.1 g/t silver from 19.60 metre.
- Mapping and trenching continues on the extensions along strike
of the constituent veins on Mestiza
Mark Child, Chairman and CEO
comments:
"The final six drill holes of a 43 drill hole programme,
totalling about 6,000 metres, at Mestiza demonstrate high grade
gold mineralisation from surface to a depth of up to 200 m beneath
surface.
"The discovery of a high-grade oreshoot ('Big Bend') on the
Tatiana vein, which has a strike length of 450 metres, an estimated
average true width of 2.2 metres and a depth of at least 200
metres, is material to the Project. Additionally, there is
potential for a small open pit on the Tatiana vein that can add
high grade gold to the mine plan, reduce the payback period and
enhance the project economics.
"On one section line in Big Bend, LIDC383 intersects the vein 20
metres beneath surface and has a drill width of 1.40 metres at
18.50 g/t gold. From previously reported drilling on the same
section: LIDC 344 (80 metres beneath surface) has a drill width of
3.30 metres at 28.3 g/t gold; LIDC 358 (160 metres beneath surface)
has a drill width of 3.55 metres at 23.3 g/t gold.
"Finally, as Condor has only drilled to a depth of up to 200
metres beneath surface, there is further potential in the lower
half of the historic Russian resource, which was up to a depth of
approximately 500 metres and remains untested."
Background
The La India Project's existing NI 43-101-compliant mineral
resource includes 9.6 Mt at 3.5 g/t gold for 1,083,000 oz gold in
the Indicated mineral resource category and 8.5 Mt at 4.5 g/t gold
for 1,231,000 oz gold in the Inferred mineral resource category.
This consists of seven separate resources, most of them open along
strike and at depth. It includes Mestiza, which hosts a NI
43-101-compliant Inferred mineral resource of 1,490 kt at 7.47 g/t
for 333,000 oz gold. Here, Soviet-backed drilling in 1991 led to a
Soviet-style mineral resource estimate of 2,392 kt at 10.2 g/t gold
for 785,694 oz gold (see RNS dated 22nd May 2017). The bulk of the resources are
contained within the Tatiana vein, the largest of the four main
veins at Mestiza, which also includes the Buenos Aires and Jicaro veins to the north,
and Espinito vein set to the west, of Tatiana.
Mestiza Drill Plan
Condor commenced drilling with one rig on the 23rd
March 2017, to test the Soviet
drilling and convert the top half of the Soviet mineral resource to
Canadian NI 43-101 standard (see RNS dated 31st
March 2017). The first batch of
assays was reported on the 22nd May 2017. A second rig was introduced and the
second batch of assays was reported on the 29th
June 2017.
This initial programme finished in August
2017, with the completion of 43 drill holes for 5,922 m in
total (see RNS dated 30th August
2017). Table 1 lists the best intercepts above 20 g/t*m
(grade x thickness) gold (Au) for the entire drill programme.
Results for last six drill holes from LIDC378 to 383 are presented
in Table 2. The drill plan (Figure 1) shows the distribution of
these holes.
Table 1: Best Drill Results from the Tatiana
vein
Prospect
|
Drill hole
ID
|
From**
|
To**
|
Drill
Width (m)
|
True
Width (m)*
|
Au
(g/t)
|
Ag
(g/t)
|
Grade
Thick
(m x
g/t)
|
Tatiana
|
LIDC344
|
76.70
|
80.00
|
3.30
|
2.20
|
28.3
|
38.9
|
93.4
|
Tatiana
|
LIDC358
|
160.50
|
164.05
|
3.55
|
2.30
|
23.3
|
66.6
|
82.7
|
Tatiana
|
LIDC365
|
142.60
|
146.20
|
3.60
|
3.12
|
13.7
|
13.9
|
49.3
|
Tatiana
|
LIDC360
|
40.30
|
43.40
|
3.10
|
2.70
|
14.4
|
29.2
|
44.6
|
Tatiana
|
LIDC348
|
91.00
|
93.65
|
2.65
|
1.70
|
12.6
|
21.8
|
33.4
|
Tatiana
|
LIDC346
|
83.80
|
86.85
|
3.05
|
2.30
|
6.79
|
14.1
|
20.7
|
Tatiana
|
LIDC383
|
18.20
|
19.60
|
1.40
|
1.10
|
18.5
|
22.1
|
25.9
|
Tatiana
|
LIDC345
|
129.60
|
133.00
|
3.40
|
2.20
|
6.06
|
21.4
|
20.6
|
Tatiana
|
LIDC363
|
145.50
|
152.50
|
7.00
|
6.10
|
2.90
|
0.4
|
20.3
|
* Intercepts calculated above a 0.5 g/t Au cut off. True width
is an interpretation based on the current understanding of the
veins and may be revised in the future.
** Depth down hole from surface
Drilling with large diameter (PQ) core was a priority because it
provided high recoveries and larger sample sizes (see Discussion of
Drill Results below). The drill rigs have achieved this, but have
only been able to test the top 200 m. It is now considered that
deeper holes are required to fully test the volume of the historic
Soviet resource, which extends to approximately 500 m beneath
surface. This will require more powerful rigs.
Drill results for last six drill holes
New drill results (from holes LIDC378 to 383) are shown in Table
2. The drill plan (Figure 1) shows the distribution of these
holes.
Table 2: Final 850 m Drill Results from Mestiza Vein
Set
Prospect
|
Drill hole
ID
|
From**
|
To**
|
Drill
Width (m)
|
True
Width (m)*
|
Au
(g/t)
|
Ag
(g/t)
|
Comment
|
Buenos
Aires
|
LIDC378
|
77.30
|
77.80
|
0.50
|
0.40
|
17.4
|
3.00
|
|
Buenos
Aires
|
LIDC379
|
114.95
|
115.20
|
0.25
|
0.20
|
1.62
|
4.00
|
|
Tatiana
|
LIDC380
|
146.55
|
151.40
|
4.85
|
3.80
|
1.25
|
11.32
|
|
Tatiana
|
LIDC381B
|
29.40
|
30.50
|
1.10
|
1.00
|
6.84
|
15.77
|
|
Tatiana
|
LIDC382
|
132.40
|
133.50
|
1.10
|
0.60
|
1.17
|
7.45
|
Hanging wall
vein
|
228.80
|
232.50
|
3.70
|
1.90
|
0.16
|
<2.00
|
Main vein
|
Tatiana
|
LIDC383
|
18.20
|
19.60
|
1.40
|
1.10
|
18.5
|
22.14
|
|
* Intercepts calculated above a 0.5 g/t Au cut off. True width
is an interpretation based on the current understanding of the
veins and may be revised in the future
** Depth down hole from surface
Figure 1 Map of Mestiza Vein Set Showing Four Main
Veins
https://www.juniorminingnetwork.com/images/news/November_2017/Condor_Gold_11-6-2017_1.jpg
Green line in Figure 1 above is the section shown in Figure
2
Figure 2 Cross section 2050 of Tatiana Vein
https://www.juniorminingnetwork.com/images/news/November_2017/Condor_Gold_11-6-2017_2.jpg
Note: The pink line in Figure 2 above represents the Tatiana
Vein at Cross Section 2050
Discussion of Drill Results
Mineralisation occurs within a 4.0 to 6.0 m-wide mineralised
structure cutting a major unit of welded tuff with conspicuous
fiamme. The structure consists of:
- An early-stage broad zone of jigsaw and crackle hydrothermal
breccia with drusy and comb vein quartz in the matrix. These
support angular clasts of weakly silicified wall rock. This phase
normally has low gold grade.
- A central high-grade quartz vein, typically 0.5-1.0 m wide,
with comb and drusy quartz and minor chalcedony. Textures vary
between holes, from massive silica to local colloform, pale green
chalcedony with fine streaks of sulphides and leaching textures
(moulds after calcite).
- Late fault breccias with vein clasts and hydrothermal breccia
in a sooty, black, manganiferous gouge and brick red smectite.
These frequently contain high grade gold.
Gold mineralisation is associated with the quartz vein and fault
breccia over true widths of up to 3.0 m. The nature of the fault
breccia, with variable amounts of gold-mineralised vein clasts in
clay gouge, leads to high gold grade variability. Drilling with PQ
core is preferred to maximise the sample size.
There is also a possible supergene enrichment effect, suggested
by increased silver in some deeper holes (e.g. 0.7 m at 356 g/t Ag
from 198.1 m in LIDC030B).
A long section of the Tatiana vein (Figure 3) plots the drill
hole intercepts where they and intersect the vein. It shows
all historic and new drilling. Each point is coloured according to
average grade and sized according to the grade x thickness factor,
which is the downhole intercept length multiplied by the gold
grade. At the local scale, this shows the highly variable nature of
mineralisation, with narrow low-grade intersections only metres
away from wide high-grade intersections. At the larger scale, the
long section shows that the vein is broadly well mineralised and
forms high grade shoots separated by intervening areas of low grade
where the mineralised zone is thinner.
A geological model has been developed which correlates high
grade gold mineralisation with bends in the vein (see 'Big Bend' in
Figure 1). These bends created more open space, allowing more
hydrothermal fluid circulation, resulting in higher grade. Big
Bend, which appears to pitch steeply west, has a strike of
approximately 450 m.
The deepest drill holes, about 200 m below surface, intersected
lower grades and/or narrower veins. This may reflect pinching of
the vein or the base of the oxide zone and supergene enrichment.
However, this has only been tested in two holes at the western end
of Big Bend: LIDC361, which returned a disappointing 0.25 m at 1.05
g/t Au, intersected a 3.35 m-wide (downhole) vein and fault breccia
zone in HQ core. Deeper drilling is needed to test the extension of
the high-grade zone.
Figure 3 Long Section of Tatiana Indicating a High Grade Ore
Shoot
https://www.juniorminingnetwork.com/images/news/November_2017/Condor_Gold_11-6-2017_3.jpg
Mapping at Mestiza
Detailed mapping was initiated at Mestiza to better understand
the geometry of the veins and identify new bends that may merit
drill testing. Mapping has traced epithermal quartz veins over a
strike length of at least 3.5 km at Mestiza. The Tatiana, Jícaro
and Buenos Aires veins coalesce in
the northwest and seem to combine into a northwest-striking vein.
There is also a newly discovered, parallel vein, the Tortuga Vein,
which assayed up to 6.1 g/t Au in a mullock sample. Historic
sampling of the northwestern extension of all these veins includes
47.7 g/t Au over 0.2 m, at 450 m along strike from the westernmost
Tatiana vein exposures.
Rock chip sampling and trenching has commenced on the northwest
extensions of veins within the enlarged Mestiza vein set, to
generate drill targets.
Mestiza in the context of La India
Mestiza is significant for five reasons:
- It already hosts a NI 43-101-compliant Inferred mineral
resource of 1,490 kt at 7.47 g/t; 333,000 oz gold. However, a
Soviet mineral resource of 2,392 kt at 10.2 g/t gold for 785,694 oz
gold was previously defined and an opportunity exists to upgrade
the former. This is excluded from the current Pre-Feasibility Study
("PFS") and Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") at La India.
- The PEA (December 2014) has an
open pit and underground mining scenario using a 1.6 Mtpa
processing plant recovering 1,203 koz gold over the life of mine,
with the first five years production averaging 138,000 oz gold
pa.
- The January 2016 Whittle
Enterprise Optimisation to NPV of the above PEA materially
increased the recovered gold and project economics. Using the same
1.6 Mtpa processing plant, recovered gold increased to 1,437 koz
gold over the life of mine, with the first five years of production
averaging 165,000 oz gold pa.
- All production scenarios exclude Mestiza, which is in close
proximity to La India (See Figure 4). There is excellent potential
to bring high grade gold from Mestiza into a future mine plan,
feeding a centralised processing plant.
- Importantly, Mestiza hosts a shallow, high-grade, oxidised
resource. This is currently viewed as a combined open
pit-underground mining target. The average drill depth is 112 m for
the 6,000 m resource conversion drilling programme. The existing
resource is open along strike in both directions and at depth. Its
shallow, high grade nature suggests it could be added early on to
the mine plan, enhancing the production profile and economics of
the project.
Figure 4 Location of the seven resources that comprise the La
India Project
https://www.juniorminingnetwork.com/images/news/November_2017/Condor_Gold_11-6-2017_4.jpg
Competent Person's Declaration
The information in this announcement that relates to the mineral
potential, geology, exploration results and database is based on
information compiled, and reviewed, by Mr Peter Flindell, Member of the Australian
Institute of Geoscientists, Member of the Australasian Institute of
Mining and Metallurgy and Member of the Society of Economic
Geologists. Mr Flindell is a geologist with over thirty years of
experience in the exploration of precious metal mineral resources.
Mr Flindell is a non-executive director on the Board of Condor Gold
plc who also provides technical leadership to the technical team in
Nicaragua and has considerable
experience in epithermal mineralisation, the type of deposit under
consideration, and sufficient experience in the type of activity
that he is undertaking to qualify as a 'Competent Person' as
defined in the June 2009 Edition of
the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Mr Flindell
consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based
on their information in the form and context in which it appears
and confirms that this information is accurate and not false or
misleading.
Technical Glossary
Assay
|
The laboratory test
conducted to determine the proportion of a mineral within a rock or
other
material. Usually reported as parts per million which is equivalent
to grams of the mineral (i.e.
gold) per tonne of rock
|
Ag
|
Silver
|
Au
|
Gold
|
breccias
|
A fragmental rock,
composed of rounded to angular broken rock fragments held together
by a
mineral cement or in a fine-grained matrix. They can be formed by
igneous, tectonic,
sedimentary or hydrothermal processes.
|
C1
|
C1 reserves are
broadly equivalent to JORC indicated resources and have been
estimated by
a sparse grid of trenches, drill holes or underground workings. The
quality and properties of
the deposit are known tentatively by analyses and by analogy with
known deposits of the same
type. The general conditions for exploitation are partially
known
|
C2
|
C2 reserves are
broadly equivalent to JORC inferred resources and have been
extrapolated
from limited data, probably only a single hole
|
Chalcedony
|
A variety of quartz
formed by microscopic or submicroscopic crystals. In an
epithermal
environment, chalcedony is formed in low temperature and pressure
conditions high in the
system.
|
Colloform
banded
|
A texture found in
fine grained quartz (chalcedony) veins where crystals have grown in
a
radiating and concentric manner form a vein centreline to give a
finely banded appearance
|
Comb
quartz
|
A quartz vein texture
describing masses of parallel long, thin crystals growing inwards
from
the vein margins produce a texture like that of a comb.
|
Drusy
quartz
|
A coating of fine
quartz crystals on a rock fracture surface, which may be an open
space in the
vein.
|
Fiamme
|
Fragments of volcanic
ejecta, often pumice, that have been flattened by compaction to
form
flame-like shapes
|
Geochemistry
|
The study of the
elements and their interaction as minerals to makeup rocks and
soils
|
Geophysics
|
The measurement and
interpretation of the earth's physical parameters using
non-invasive
methods such as measuring the gravity, magnetic susceptibility,
electrical conductivity,
seismic response and natural radioactive emissions.
|
Hydrothermal
|
Hot water circulation
often caused by heating of groundwater by near surface magmas
and
often occurring in association with volcanic activity. Hydrothermal
waters can contain
significant concentrations of dissolved minerals.
|
Kt
|
Thousand
tonnes
|
Mineral
Reserve
|
The economically
mineable part of a Measured and/or Indicated Mineral Resource. It
includes
diluting materials and allowances for losses, which may occur when
the material is mined.
Appropriate assessments and studies have been carried out, and
include consideration of
and modification by realistically assumed mining, metallurgical,
economic, marketing, legal,
environmental, social and governmental factors. These assessments
demonstrate at the
time of reporting that extraction could reasonably be justified.
Ore Reserves are sub-divided in
order of increasing confidence into Probable Ore Reserves and
Proved Ore Reserves.
|
Mineral
Resource
|
A concentration or
occurrence of material of economic interest in or on the Earth's
crust in
such a form, quality, and quantity that there are reasonable and
realistic prospects for
eventual economic extraction. The location, quantity, grade,
continuity and other geological
characteristics of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated from
specific geological
knowledge, or interpreted from a well constrained and portrayed
geological model.
|
NI 43-101
|
Canadian National
Instrument 43-101 a common standard for reporting of identified
mineral
resources and ore reserves
|
Phreatic
breccias
|
Fragmental rocks
formed near the Earth's surface by the interaction of hot rock and
cold water,
or vice versa. Commonly occur at the top of mineralized epithermal
gold systems.
|
Rock chip
|
A sample of rock
collected for analysis, from one or several close spaced sample
points at a
location. Unless otherwise stated, this type of sample is not
representative of the variation in
grade across the width of an ore or mineralised body and the assay
results cannot be used
in a Mineral Resource Estimation
|
Soviet
Classification
|
The former Soviet
system for classification of reserves and resources, developed in
1960 and
revised in 1981, which divides mineral concentrations into seven
categories of three major
groups, based on the level of exploration performed: explored
reserves (A, B, C1), evaluated
reserves (C2) and prognostic resources (P1, P2, P3)
|
Soviet GKZ
|
The former Soviet
State Commission for Mineral Reserves.
|
Stockwork
|
Multiple connected
veins with more than one orientation, typically consisting of
millimetre to
centimetre thick fracture-fill veins and veinlets.
|
Strike
length
|
The longest
horizontal dimension of an ore body or zone of
mineralisation.
|
Vein
|
A sheet-like body of
crystallised minerals within a rock, generally forming in a
discontinuity or
crack between two rock masses. Economic concentrations of gold are
often contained within
vein minerals.
|
Welded
tuff
|
A fragmental volcanic
rock formed by sufficiently hot volcanic ejecta that the fragments
weld
together
|
Zeolite
veinlets
|
Zeolites are hydrated
aluminosilicates found in gas bubbles within basalts and in
geothermal
districts. They also found in the upper parts of gold-bearing
epithermal systems.
|
Condor Gold
plc
|
Mark Child, Executive
Chairman and CEO
|
|
+44 (0) 20 7493
2784
|
Beaumont Cornish
Limited
|
Roland Cornish and
James Biddle
|
|
+44 (0) 20 7628
3396
|
Numis Securities
Limited
|
John Prior and James
Black
|
|
+44 (0) 20 7260
1000
|
Blytheweigh
|
Tim Blythe, Camilla
Horsfall and Megan Ray
|
|
+44 (0) 20
71383204
|
For further information please visit www.condorgold.com or
contact:
About Condor Gold plc:
Condor Gold plc was admitted to AIM on 31st May 2006. The Company is a gold exploration
and development company with a focus on Central America.
Condor completed a Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") and two
Preliminary Economic Assessments ("PEA") on its wholly owned La
India Project in Nicaragua in
December 2014. The PFS details an
open pit gold mineral reserve of 6.9 Mt at 3.0 g/t gold for 675,000
oz gold producing 80,000 oz gold per annum for seven years. The PEA
for the open pit only scenario details 100,000 oz gold production
per annum for eight years whereas the PEA for a combination of open
pit and underground details 140,000 oz gold production per annum
for eight years. La India Project contains a total attributable
mineral resource of 18.08 Mt at 4.0 g/t for 2.31 million oz gold
and 2.68 million oz silver at 6.2 g/t to the CIM Code.
The resource calculations are compiled by independent geologists
SRK Consulting (UK) Limited.
Disclaimer
Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents
of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website
(or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this
announcement.