Jan 27 2015
Condor Gold, the AIM-listed Nicaraguan focused gold exploration company, is pleased to announce that drilling has commenced on the flagship La India Project in Nicaragua. The Company has started a 4000m drilling programme aimed at demonstrating the immediate upside of the Project.
The initial 2000m of drilling has two objectives. Firstly to test the depth extent of high grade gold mineralisation beneath La India open pit reserve and existing underground gold resource which are currently defined to a maximum combined down-dip depth of only 350m. Secondly, to test the southern strike extent of La India open pit, which is open along strike to the south, but dips beneath the surface. The remaining 2,000m of the drilling programme will be subject to the initial drilling results and test existing targets on La India Project. A soil sampling programme has commenced on La India Project aimed at identifying high level epithermal prospects potentially concealing deeper high grade gold mineralisation.
Highlights:
- Condor initiates 4000m drilling programme.
- Drilling to test depth extension of the high grade ore shoots beneath La India open pit reserve
- Drilling to test southern strike extent of La India open pit reserve and underground gold resource.
- Drilling to test existing exploration targets within La India Project
- Condor has started a regional soil geochemical sampling programme, initially along a 5km strike length to the south of La India Open Pit to look for geochemical indicators of hidden deep-seated gold mineralisation.
Mark Child CEO comments:
"The existing resource of 11.5M tonnes at 3.50g/t for 1.30M oz gold within La India Vein Set contains three high grade ore shoots. Condor has commenced a 4,000m drilling programme designed to test the depth extension of the high grade ore shoots beneath La India open pit reserve and test the strike extent to the south of the main La India vein, where the mineralised boiling zone does not outcrop at surface. Condor raised £6.4M (US$10M) in October 2014 and is fully funded for the drilling programme, which will cost less than US$1M.
The helicopter-borne geophysics programme indicates that the main La India structure is open to the south for up to 5km. Rock chip samples of 23.5g/t and 9.0g/t have been collected 1km to the south of La India open pit reserve along this structure.
The initial soil geochemistry programme, which is part of a larger soil sampling programme on La India Project, is being conducted along a 5km strike length to the south of La India open pit reserve and is aimed at determining whether there are signs that La India vein continues at depth for some distance to the south. If so, there is potential for a series of high grade ore shoots which can be targeted by drilling."
Drilling to test beneath La India open pit resource and along strike to the south
The initial 2,000m of drilling will test the depth extent of gold mineralisation beneath, and at depth along strike to the south of the La India PFS open pit reserve of 675,000 oz gold at 3.0g/t gold. The drilling programme targets the three main high-grade zones that have been defined along a 1.5km strike length of La India structure in order to test the underground potential of the system to deeper levels. Drilling completed to-date, predominantly on 50m by 50m spacing has defined gold mineralisation to a maximum of 350m down-dip from the surface exposure. Half of the initial drilling, some 1,000m of drilling, will test further below the old mine workings up to 400m down-dip of the surface exposure and 100m below the base of the PFS open pit shell on the two principal high-grade shoots that fall within the open pit resource. The other 1,000m of the initial drilling programme will test to depth beneath a less well defined high-grade shoot which is un-depleted by historic mining, and hidden beneath surface, along strike to the south of the PFS open pit shell. The southern 300m strike length of the La India Vein dips beneath the surface towards the south with intercepts of up to 21.08m (16.1m true width) at 10.24g/t gold from 193.80m drill depth encountered where no vein is present at surface (see press release dated 29th August 2012).
The remaining 2,000m of drilling will be subject to the initial drilling results and also to regional targeting.
Soil sampling to find hidden gold mineralisation: generating drilling targets
A district-scale gold mineralisation model developed by Condor geologists by combining geophysical, topographic, geological mapping and regional exploration data has identified the potential for the discovery of hidden deep-seated gold mineralised structures with underground mining potential along interpreted hydrothermal fluid conduits or 'backbone' structures (see press release dated 3rd April 2014). In some cases such upper level and near surface hydrothermal fluid movement above the boiling zone can be identified by the precipitation of low-temperature vein textures such as chalcedonic and opaline quartz phases. In other cases the surface evidence is a more subtle geochemical alteration of rocks caused by the venting of hydrothermal fluids and vapours. Such alteration of the rock can be detected in the residual soil pathfinder geochemistry. Condor has completed a soil geochemistry orientation study comprising 326 soil sampling sites from five separate test areas to establish the most effective sampling and analysis method to detect geochemical indicators of alteration produced by high-level hydrothermal fluids. Fine- fraction B-horizon soil sampling and ultra-trace multi-element analysis has been shown to be an effective method of detecting alteration associated with underlying gold mineralisation.
A regional soil sampling programme using a 200m by 50m grid pattern, tightened to 100m by 50m over areas of geological interest, has been initiated over the highest priority target for hidden gold mineralisation; the south-eastern strike extension of La India backbone structure extending onto La Mojarra Concession where quartz vein outcrop and float with chalcedonic and opaline textures indicative of near-surface or surficial hot-spring type deposition, well above the gold-enriched boiling zone, have been identified along a 5km strike length. Drilling on the southern strike extent of the principal La India Vein has already established the presence of high-grade hidden gold mineralisation, which remains open at depth along strike beneath the La India South-Mojarra target. Over 1,100 soil samples are planned on the La India South-Mojarra soil sampling programme over an 11km² area covering a 5km southern strike continuation of the La India Structure (see Figure 2 below). The results of the soil sampling programme are expected in March and any positive high-level hydrothermal soil anomalies will be assessed as targets for drill testing.
The soil sampling programme will continue over the remaining priority targets in the district with a view to ultimately generate a complete geochemical map of the District.
To view Figure 1 please click the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/LaIndiaSouthMojarra.jpg
Source: http://www.condorgold.com/