Condor Gold commence geotechnical drilling at La India
Published by Jessica Casey,
Editor
Global Mining Review,
Condor Gold has announced that in line with its intent to develop La India Mine into a production unit, it has commenced a 1700 m infill geotechnical drilling programme within the permitted La India Open Pit. Two diamond drill rigs have been deployed to expedite progress. The programme is anticipated to take 5 – 6 weeks to complete. The geotechnical drilling programme has been designed to achieve a feasibility level of design by SRK Consulting (UK) Limited and will complement other ongoing feasibility study level work programmes already underway.
Highlights
- The aim of the programme is two-fold, one to collect high quality data that will allow for the refinement of pit wall design slopes, potentially positively impacting on the waste stripping quantities, which if successful, could subsequently positively expand the reserves within La India opencast, particularly if the pit pushes deeper.
- The 2014 pre-feasibility study (PFS) was conducted at US$1250/oz gold. This current work programme will align final pit slopes and future pit designs with current gold market conditions, where it is anticipated that this may push the pit deeper and convert the current underground mineral resource, beneath the pit, into an opencast mineral resource.
- The 1700 m geotechnical drill plan has been planned to achieve feasibility study level geotechnical design criteria.
- The drill programme will consist of a total of 13 diamond core drillholes ranging in depth from 50 m to 200 m from surface with an average length of 131 m with drilling being conducted with oriented core equipment, followed by either acoustic or optical televiewer logging to confirm structures and rock types.
- Analysis of the resulting information and summary reporting will be provided by SRK.
Mark Child, Chairman and CEO, commented: “The aim of the 1700 m geotechnical drill programme to a feasibility study level of design is firstly to collect high quality data that will allow for the refinement of pit wall design slopes to be used in the final pit designs, potentially positively impacting on the waste stripping ratios and secondly, if successful, positively expand the reserves within La India opencast, particularly if the pit pushes deeper, due to a combination of a change in pit angels and/or a higher gold price is used in future studies.
“The feasibility level of designs of the geotechnical study builds on the 2014 PFS on La India opencast, which hosts a probable mineral reserve of 6.9 million t at 3.1 g/t for 675 000 oz gold. The PFS was conducted at a US$1250 gold price. Beneath La India opencast, there is an underground mineral resource of 678 000 t at 4.9 g/t gold for 107 000 oz gold in the indicated category and 1 116 000 t at 5.6 g/t gold for 209 000 oz gold in the inferred category.”
Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/16062021/condor-gold-commence-geotechnical-drilling-at-la-india/
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