Condor Gold juggles two potential mining plans for La India
Condor Gold’s two project proposal plans hold promise. Both show achievable potential and align their targets with the likely possibility of high yield and tempting financial gain. Focusing on the company’s Nicaragua La India gold mine, the scenarios laid out in Condor Gold’s updated technical study are currently being weighed up as to which is the best way forward to succeed in achieving maximum potential from its asset.
The two routes laid out in SRK Consulting’s Preliminary Economic Assessment offer two possible plans Condor Gold has available for it to put into action and develop further.
Potential mining plans pulling Condor Gold two ways
The first proposes a mixed open-pit and underground operation, offering up the potential to churn out a comfortable 1.47 million ounces of gold combined with an average of 150,000 ounces per year over the course of the first nine years. Taking this route would allow La India to potentially generate approximately 1,469,000 ounces of gold over the mine’s predicted 12-year life, and would need a hefty US$160mn investment to kickstart the operation.
In comparison, the second proposition describes the potential for the development of a sole open-pit mine focusing on La India’s core and satellite pits at America, Mestiza, and Central Breccia zones. Similar to the first plan, this route offers a tempting 120,000 ounces of gold ore over a period of six per year, generating around 892,000 ounces over a shorter nine-year mine life.
Both propositions tease high-production potential
“The highlight of the technical study is a post-tax, post upfront capital expenditure NPV of US$418 million, with an IRR of 54 per cent and 12-month payback period, assuming a US$1,700 per ounce gold price, with an average annual production of 150,000 ounces of gold per annum for the initial nine years of gold production,” says Mark Child, Chairman and Chief executive at Condor Gold.
“The open-pit mine schedules have been optimised from designed pits, bringing higher grade gold forward resulting in average annual production of 157,000 ounces of gold in the first two years from open-pit material and underground mining funded out of cash flow.”
