La India Replacement Drill Holes Have Been Completed
SURREY, BC - Condor Gold reported that all assay results have now been received for the 3,370 m drilling program in the La India starter pit infill and reserve circulation (RC)-replacement drill holes completed between December 2020 and June this year. The highlight new drill result is LIDC464 of 6.6 m true width at 10.51 g/t gold.
The drilling program has successfully completed 4 objectives: Firstly, to tighten the drill hole spacing to 25 m by 25 m within high grade starter pits within the fully permitted La India open pit. Secondly, to provide the sample density required to finalize pit designs and mine schedules ahead of production. Thirdly, the diamond drilling program has replaced all historical RC drill holes within the overall La India open pit Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve, the results of which will improve the integrity of the geological model and sample quality. Lastly, the diamond drilling targeted nearby Inferred Mineral Resources to potentially upgrade the target to an Indicated Mineral Resource, and its then potential inclusion in the mine plan.
Highlights: 3,370 m diamond core drilling program completed, all assay results have been received and all significant intercepts have been reported; 60.60 m (54.5 m true width) at 1.98 g/t gold from 4.15 m drill depth, including 5.75 m (5.2 m true width) at 16.88 g/t gold from 42.55 m drill depth in drill hole LIDC452 located between the two proposed starter pits; The wide zone of gold mineralization of 54.5 m true width at 1.98 g/t gold near surface has the potential to reduce the strip ratio in the area between the starter pits due to the increase in gold mineralized tonnage verses waste rock, thus potentially improving Project economics; Potential to amalgamate the two Starter Pits into a single, larger Starter Pit as a broad zone of high grade gold mineralization including a high grade intercept was previously interpreted as a low grade zone within the main La India open pit; 22.05 m (21.6 m true width) at 6.48 g/t gold from 24.75 m drill depth including 15.35 m (15.0 m true width) at 8.68 g/t gold from 24.75 m drilled depth (drill hole LIDC413); and 16.00 m (15.7 m true width) at 5.30 g/t gold from 18.35 m drill depth, including 5.90 m (5.8 m true width) at 12.35 g/t gold from 22.10 m drilled depth (drill hole LIDC416).
Mark Child, Chairman and CEO, said, "All assay results for a 3,370 m diamond core drill program have been received. Please see Table 1 below for top 10 gold intercepts, notably: 22.05 m (21.6 m true width) at 6.48 g/t gold from 24.75 m drill depth including 15.35 m (15.0 m true width) at 8.68 g/t gold from 24.75 m drilled depth (drill hole LIDC413) and 60.60 m (54.5 m true width) at 1.98 g/t gold from 4.15 m drill depth, including 5.75 m (5.2 m true width) at 16.88 g/t gold from 42.55 m drill depth in drill hole LIDC452 located between the two proposed Starter Pits. Using a 2.0 g/t cut-off grade, the Starter Pits contain 445 Kt at 4.17 g/t gold for 59,700 oz gold with a 6.8 to 1 strip ratio and represent less than 10% of the full permitted La India open pit.
This has been a very successful drill program and achieved a number of key objectives: Firstly, the geological model has been re-affirmed and is now more robust following a close spaced 25 m by 25 m drill program in the Starter Pits with some drill assay results better than expected. Secondly, the Starter Pits are now "shovel ready", are within 35 m of surface and will provide early high-grade mill feed for the recently purchased SAG Mill. The replacement of RC drill holes with diamond core drilling strengthens the geological model ahead of production. Project economics are likely to improve with A) confirmation of a broad zone of mineralization between the starter pits which should reduce the overall strip ratio and B) the discovery of an additional vein in the footwall".
The drilling has returned grades and widths of the principal gold mineralized structures in-line with expectations and achieved the four objectives stated earlier. It has also extended the strike length of an approximately 2 m wide vein in the footwall zone which potentially can add extra ounces of gold to the mineral resource. A broad zone of mineralization from near surface, LIDC452 of 54.5 m true width at 1.98 g/t gold, including 5.75 m (5.2 m true width) at 16.88 g/t gold, has been confirmed between the two Starter Pits.
Gold intercepts include amalgamated intercepts combining remnant mineralization in the hanging wall and/or footwall of the historic and recent artisanal mine workings. All significant intercepts have been previously reported, and LIDC464 in this RNS. The twinning and replacement of RC drilling data with diamond core drilling within the open pit Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Estimate was undertaken to improve the quality and resolution of the geological model. The diamond core twin drill holes generally confirmed the results of the RC drilling. However, some higher than expected grades and broader zones of mineralization intersected near surface between the two planned Starter Pits are expected to improve the near surface mineral resource and positively impact on early mining economics, as the strip ratio maybe reduced due to the wider zone of mineralization: 60.60 m (54.5 m true width) at 1.98 g/t gold from 4.15 m drill depth, including 5.75 m (5.2 m true width) at 16.88 g/t gold from 42.55 m drill depth in drill hole LIDC452 located between the two proposed Starter Pits; and 3.75 m (3.4 m true width) at 9.94 g/t gold from the hanging wall of the historic mine workings in drill hole LIDC454 located between the two Starter Pits.
The starter pits are currently planned to exploit two high-grade segments of the La India open pit to a depth of approximately 35 m below surface; the Southern starter Pit along a 250 m strike length and the Northern starter Pit along 300 m strike are separated by 200 m of what was previously considered a low grade zone. These new drill intercepts will be considered in the final starter pit resource estimation and mine design to see if the starter pits can be extended, of even joined, by exploiting the near-surface gold mineralization now demonstrated along the intervening 200 m of strike length.
Results for the final two drill holes, one infill drill hole and one RC-twin drill hole were returned: An infill drill hole (LIDC464) intercepted 6.65 m (6.6 m true width) at 10.51 g/t gold some 10 m below the Northern Starter Pit. The drill hole was designed to pin-down the strike extent of the high-grade shoot that supports the Northern Starter Pit by infilling at 25 m-spacing between a high-grade intercept of 10.11 m (9.8 m true width) at 6.72 g/t gold beneath the starter pit and a notably lower grade 6.28 m (6.1 m true width) at 2.27 g/t gold some 50 m along strike to the north. The intercept should have a positive impact on the mineral resource and extends the high-grade shoot along strike to the north; and A broad intercept of moderate-grade mineralization returned from the final RC-twin drill hole LIDC468 is comparable with the original RC drilling results and confirms mineralization as modeled in this relatively low-grade section of the La India Vein.
Final assay results from La India Pit infill drilling, previously unreported.