Maiden JORC Resource for Espinito Mendoza

RNS Number : 7414T

Condor Resources PLC

12 December 2011

 

Condor Resources Plc 7th Floor 39 St. James's Street London  SW1A 1JD                                             Telephone [phone]  Fax: [phone]

12^th December 2011

Condor Resources Plc

(''Condor'' or "the Company")

Maiden JORC Resource for the Espinito Mendoza Concession in La India Project, Nicaragua

Condor (AIM: CNR), the Central American gold exploration company focused on proving a large commercial reserve at its La India Project in Nicaragua is pleased to announce that independent consultancy, SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd ('SRK') has completed a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate on Condor's 100%-owned Espinito Mendoza Concession (the "Concession"), in the Central Highlands of Nicaragua, within the La India Project area which comprises of a number of Concessions wholly owned by the Company in Nicaragua. The Mineral Resource has been compiled in accordance with the terms and definitions given in "The 2004 Australasian Code for the Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the "JORC Code"), 2004 Edition, as published by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee ("JORC") of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Minerals Council of Australia."

Highlights:

·     La India Project JORC Code Mineral Resource increases 20% to 1,255,000 oz gold at 6.1 g/t

·     Espinito Mendoza Concession, in the heart of La India Project, has a maiden JORC Code Mineral Resource of 209,000 oz gold at 6.7 g/t.

·     JORC Mineral Resource on Tatiana Vein on La India Project doubles to 206,000 oz gold at 6.4 g/t, highlighting economic potential.

·     SRK has updated the 3D model for the La India Project and seamlessly tied in the new Mineral Resource where the veins extend from the Espinito Mendoza Concession onto the surrounding La India Concession.

·     Good potential to add additional resource ounces as all veins open along strike and to depth. An adit on the Concession also shows multiple veins, some of which are yet to be included in a Mineral Resource Estimate.

Condor executed an agreement to acquire the Espinito Mendoza Concession on the 18^th August 2011 and to transfer 100% of the Concession to Condor's wholly owned Nicaraguan subsidiary, Condor S.A. for a consideration of US$1,625,000. See stock exchange announcement dated 24^th August 2011 for full details.

SRK has estimated a JORC compliant Inferred Mineral Resource for the Espinito Mendoza Concession of 0.98 Mt at 6.7 g/t for 209,000 oz gold on three veins within the Concession boundaries. The Concession encompasses over 3.8 km of gold mineralised veins already defined, including historic underground mine workings along a 500 m strike length and the northwestern strike extension of Condor's Tatiana Resource. The concession area was extensively trench and drill tested between 1986 and 1990 as part of a Soviet-sponsored exploration campaign over the larger historic La India Project area, and subsequently evaluated for a stand-alone mine operation by Canadian company Diadem Resources in 1996 and 1997. Condor has since undertaken a major data capture programme to collate all historic data for the Concession area and integrate it into the Company's existing database for the La India Project. The SRK Mineral Resource estimate has been tied in with the existing Resource on the adjacent La India Concession (also owned by Condor) and is based on some 6,700 m of diamond drilling, 1,900 m of trench sampling and 489 underground channel samples. Approximately 35% of the drilling is located on the strike extension of the veins onto the adjacent La India Concession to ensure a seamless link with Condor's existing Mineral Resource.

The Table below gives SRK's JORC Compliant Mineral Resource Statement as at 6th December 2011 for the Concession, as signed off by Ben Parsons, a Competent Person as defined by the JORC Code. The statement has been discounted for areas falling outside of the Espinito Mendoza concession area.  The Mineral Resource stated has been reported at a cut-off grade of 1.5 g/t Au, which has been calculated using a gold price of USD 1200/oz, and suitable benchmarked technical and economic parameters for underground mining and conventional gold mineralised material processing.

SRK JORC Compliant Mineral Resource Statement as at 6th December 2011 for the Espinito Mendoza Concession:

SRK Inferred Mineral Resource, Espinito Mendoza Concession, 6th December 2011

Vein Name               Tonnes (kt)             Au Grade (g/t)              Contained Au (oz)

Tatiana                      570                                5.8                                   105,000 Buenos Aires             210                                8.0                                     53,000 Espinito                     200                                7.7                                     50,000

Total Inferred           980                                6.7                                    209,000

Mineral Resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 1.5 g/t. Cut-off grades are based on a price of US$1200 per ounce of gold and gold recoveries of 90 percent for resources, without considering revenues from other metals. Mineral Resources are not Ore Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate and have been used to derive sub-totals, totals and weighted averages.  Such calculations inherently involve a degree of rounding and consequently introduce a margin of error. Where these occur, SRK does not consider them to be material. All composites have been capped where appropriate. The Concession is wholly owned by and exploration is operated by Condor Resources plc.

The total Mineral Resource defined by Condor on the La India Project now stands at 6,390 Mt at 6.1 g/t for 1,255,000 oz gold, including 1.18 Mt at 7.6 g/t for 290,000 oz gold in the Indicated Mineral Resource category with the balance in the Inferred category. All the Indicated Mineral Resources are located in and around the historic La India and America-Constancia gold mines.

On 12^th April 2011, SRK estimated a JORC Inferred Mineral Resource of 101,000 oz gold at 7.3 g/t for the portion of the Tatiana Vein located on La India Concession. Following SRK's estimate above of 105,000 oz gold at 5.8 g/t on the Concession, the total Inferred Mineral Resource for the Tatiana Vein now stands at 206,000 oz gold at 6.4 g/t.

From the 35 holes drilled on the Concession, the best intercepts within the wireframed zone are:

·     8.60 m (5.29 m true width) at 6.1 g/t from154.7 m drill depth on Tatiana (PO74)

·     3.90 m (2.40 m true width) at 10.4 g/t from 161.50 m drill depth on Tatiana (PO81)

·     3.30 m (1.89 m true width) at 12.7 g/t from 84.60 m drill depth on Tatiana (PO75)

·     1.70 m (1.60 m true width) at 46.0 g/t from 60.30 m drill depth on Buenos Aires (P076)

Gold mineralisation remains open along strike in both directions and open to depth on the Tatiana, Buenos Aires and Espinito Veins. There is also considerable potential for the discovery and definition of Mineral Resources on further veins with additional gold mineralised veins already recognised but not included in the current resource in trenches, drilling and also in the Mestiza cross-cut adit which intercepted three of the known veins as well as a number of new structures along an 85 m adit length. Further work is required to establish the dip and strike continuity of these additional structures before they can be brought into a Mineral Resource Estimation.

Mark Child, Executive Chairman and CEO of Condor Resources plc, commented:

"The maiden JORC Code Inferred Mineral Resource of 209,000 oz gold at 6.7 g/t for the Espinito Mendoza Concession in the heart of La India Project, more than justifies Condor's acquisition of this concession in August 2011. As a consequence, Condor's JORC Code Resource on La India Project increases by 20% to 1,255,000 oz gold at 6.1 g/t and takes La India Project a step closer to the short term target of 1,500,000 oz gold. The Espinito Mendoza resource was calculated from historic exploration data from previous explorers including data used in a Soviet Resource estimation of 513,000 oz gold at 11.1 g/t to Soviet Classification, compiled in 1991 and data from a Canadian explorer. SRK Consulting has wireframed the Espinito Mendoza resource and completed a 3D model that seamlessly integrates the resource on the veins on the Espinito Mendoza Concession with those veins that extend onto Condor's surrounding La India Concession. A number of the veins on the Espinito Mendoza Concession are within 30 m to 50 m of each other, open along strike and to depth and offer excellent potential to increase the JORC Mineral Resource on La India Project. They will be a priority drill target in 2012."

Click on, or paste the following link into your web browser, to view the Map of La India Project:

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7414T_1-2011-12-9.pdf

Competent Person's Declaration

The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results and database is based on information compiled by and reviewed by Dr Luc English, the Country Exploration Manager, who is a Chartered Geologist and Fellow of the Geological Society of London, and a geologist with sixteen years of experience in the exploration and definition of precious and base metal Mineral Resources. Luc English is a full-time employee of Condor Resources plc and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration, and to the type of activity which 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. Luc English 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.

The Mineral Resource estimate has been completed by Ben Parsons, a Senior Resource Geologist with SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd, who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, MAusIMM(CP).  Ben Parsons has some ten years experience in the exploration, definition and mining of precious and base metal Mineral Resources.  Ben Parsons is a full-time employee of SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd, an independent Consultancy and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration, and to the type of activity which 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. Ben Parsons 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.

 - Ends -

For further information please visit www.condorresourcesplc.com or contact:

Condor Resources plc	Mark Child, Executive Chairman and CEO [phone]	Luc English, Country Manager Nicaragua & El Salvador [phone]
Beaumont Cornish Limited	Roland Cornish. James Biddle [phone]
Farm Street Media	Simon Robinson [phone]

About Condor Resources Plc:

Condor Resources plc is an AIM listed exploration company focused on developing gold and silver resource projects in Central America.  The Company was admitted to AIM on 31^st May 2006 with the stated strategy to prove up JORC Resources in Nicaragua and El Salvador.  Condor has seven 100% owned concessions in La India Mining District ("La India Project"); three 100% owned concessions in three other project areas and 20% in the Cerro Quiroz concession in Nicaragua.  In El Salvador, Condor has 90% ownership of four licences in two project areas.

Condor's concession holdings in Nicaragua currently contain an attributable JORC compliant resource base of 1,342,000 ounces of gold equivalent at 6.0g/t in Nicaragua and an attributable 1,008,000 oz gold equivalent at 2.6g/t JORC compliant resource base in El Salvador. The Resource calculations are compiled by independent geologists SRK Consulting (UK) Limited and Ravensgate.

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.

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
Breccia	A rock made up of angular rock fragments cemented together by a finer grained matrix
Down-dip	Further down towards the deepest parts of an ore body or zone of mineralisation
Epithermal	Mineral veins and ore deposited from fluids at shallow depths at low pressure and temperatures ranging from 50-300°C
Gold Equivalent	Gold equivalent grade is calculated by dividing the silver assay result by 60, adding it to the gold value and assuming 100% metallurgical recovery
Grade	The proportion of a mineral within a rock or other material. For gold mineralisation this is usually reported as grams of gold per tonne of rock (g/t)
g/t	grams per tonne
Inferred Mineral Resource	That part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a low level of confidence. It is inferred from geological evidence and assumed but not verified geological and/or grade continuity. It is based on information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes that may be limited, or of uncertain quality and reliability
Intercept	Refers to a sample or sequence of samples taken across the entire width or an ore body or mineralized zone. The intercept is described by the entire thickness and the average grade of mineralisation
JORC	Australian Joint Ore Reserves Committee, common reference to the Australasian Code for reporting of identified mineral resources and 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
oz	Troy ounce
Quartz veins	Deposit of quartz rock that develop in fractures and fissures in the surrounding rock. They are deposited by saturated geothermal liquids rising to the surface through the cracks in the rock and then cooling, taking on the shape of the cracks that they fill.
Reverse circulation drilling	A drilling method in which penetration is achieved through a combined hammer and rotary drilling action and pulverised rock samples are transported to the surface through the drilling rods using compressed air. The 1m samples collected for analysis are of sufficient quality to be used in a Mineral Resource Estimation.
Sedimentary cover sequence	Recent material transported and deposited on top of the bedrock, includes river transported alluvium, down slope transported colluviums and landslide deposits
Strike length	The longest horizontal dimension of an ore body or zone of mineralisation

 

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