Condor Gold announces drilling programme update

The primary objective of the drilling programme is to provide 25 m spaced drill sampling within the two shallow (up to 35 m deep), high-grade starter pits within the main La India Open Pit Mineral Reserve. Drilling on the Northern Starter Pit has been completed with 25 drill holes for 1273 m, four of which have twinned existing reverse circulation (RC) drill holes. Drilling has now commenced on the Southern Starter Pit with two rigs drilling, the first three holes have already been completed. Initial drill results have now been received for the first two drill holes located at the northern end of the Northern Starter Pit.

Highlights

• LIDC404 drilled 9.6 m true width at 3.98 g/t gold from surface.
• Discovery of an additional vein of 2.9 m true width at 2.27 g/t gold from 24.15 m drill depth in the footwall in the same drill hole, LIDC404 is an exciting development and will be rapidly evaluated as potentially mineralised material available for inclusion in the mine schedule.
• LIDC404 has an amalgamated drill intercept from 1.2 m to 27.15 m drill depth of 24.15 m (23.6 m true width) at 2.05 g/t gold, which includes a 1.8 m mine cavity.
• 25 drill holes for a combined 1273 m of infill and RC replacement drilling completed in the Northern Starter Pit.
• Assay results from first two drill holes confirm the geological model for the Main Vein.
• Infill and RC replacement drilling in the Southern Starter Pit underway and expected to be completed by early April.

Mark Child, Chairman and CEO, commented: “I am delighted with the initial drill assay result of 9.6 m true width at 3.98 g/t gold from surface in drill hole LIDC404 as it confirms the geological model of a wide zone of high grade ore in the La India Starter pit, which is within the fully permitted main La India open pit mineral reserve. The discovery of an additional vein of 2.9 m true width at 2.27 g/t gold from 24.15 m drill depth in the same drill hole is an added bonus and is likely to add mineralised material to the mine plan. LIDC404 has an amalgamated drill intercept from 1.20 m to 27.15 m drill depth of 24.15m (23.6 m true width) at 2.05 g/t gold, which includes a 1.8 m mine cavity. Mining this area is likely to focus on putting the high-grade material through the future processing plant and stock piling or blending the lower grade material with higher grade material from elsewhere. Only 2 drill assay results have been received from 25 drill holes on the Northern Starter Pit for a combined 1273 m of infill and RC replacement drilling completed so far in the La India Starter Pits. Approximately 2200 m drilling remains to be completed of the current drill programme.”

Initial assay results

Results have been received for the first two drill holes which were located at the northern end of the Northern Starter Pit. Both drill holes were collared (started) within the surface expression of the main mineralised zone where it is covered by a few metres of alluvium, and drilled to test the footwall part of the main zone and explore the underlying host rock. The assay results confirmed the geological model and grade of the Main Zone, and discovered an additional vein in the footwall rock approximately 12 m below the Main Zone. The footwall vein appears to be an extension of a vein previously drilled some 50 m along strike to the southwest and was classified as inferred mineral resource in the 2019 mineral resource estimate. Assay results pending from other infill drill holes will enable a more confident and accurate geological model of this vein and will be rapidly evaluated as potentially additional mineral resource and mineral reserve available for inclusion in the mine schedule.

Drilling programme – looking ahead

The drilling programme is constantly being assessed and adapted based on geological observations from core logging. Quartz veins and breccias have been identified within the footwall host rock, in some cases, 10 – 20 m below the Main Vein in both the Northern and Southern Starter Pits. Consequently, selected neighbouring infill drill holes are being extended beyond the originally planned depth to target the footwall quartz vein and breccias. The goal is to rapidly upgrade and potentially extend existing inferred mineral resources to the indicated mineral resource category, and their potential inclusion in the mine schedule.

To-date, approximately 1300 m of diamond core drilling has been completed. It is anticipated that another 800 m of drilling will be required to complete the 25 m-spaced infill and RC-drill replacement drilling within the two Starter Pits (for a total of approximately 2100 m drilling, including 6 RC-twin holes for approximately 413 m). Note that some drill holes have been removed from the programme which had originally been pencilled in to test zones marginal grade mineralisation, saving approximately 500 m from the programme.

Following completion of the drilling in the Southern Starter Pit, the next stage in the infill drilling programme is to twin drill an additional 17 RC drill holes (1392 m of drilling) that are located near to the starter pits. A decision to proceed with this stage will be made after analysing the variability in assay results between the RC and twin diamond core drill holes, and a review of the confidence in the geological model in these zones to decide if the twin drilling is required.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/09032021/condor-gold-announces-drilling-programme-udpate/