93% to 96% Recovery For Initial Metallurgical Testwork On La India Project

LONDON, ENGLAND - Condor reported that metallurgical testwork commenced on approximately 500kg of sample material from La India Project in Nicaragua. The testwork is being undertaken by Inspectorate's Metallurgical Division in Vancouver and includes samples from all areas that were included in the recently announced Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) and/or are expected to feature in the planned Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS). The initial results demonstrate that the ore at La India Open Pit is amenable to processing using standard industry technologies with recoveries of 93-96%.

The metallurgical program has been planned by a consultant from SRK Consulting in consultation with Condor's geological staff as part of PFS and Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) that Condor has initiated on the La India Project area. The main portion of the metallurgical programme will be conducted on three master composites and six variability composites prepared from 1/4 core of selected drill hole intervals from the La India Vein Set, representing La India South, La India Central and La India North zones. Initial results demonstrate that the ore at La India is amenable to processing by either whole-ore cyanidation or a combination of gravity concentration followed by cyanidation of the gravity tailings with gold recoveries of 93-96% achieved at a moderate grind of 80% passing 74 microns.

In addition, metallurgical testwork to PEA level is underway on test composites from the America Vein Set, the Mestiza Vein Set, and the Central Breccia. The Central Breccia was not included in the recent PEA because it does not yet host a mineral resource estimation. Condor currently has 1 drilling rig completing a 2,000m drill programme on the Central Breccia area following-up on a previous drilling programme of 880m which defined wide zones of moderate to high-grade gold mineralisation at surface and suggest that it will feature in the planned PFS.

The 500kg of metallurgical testwork currently underway builds on preliminary testwork carried out a year ago on 50kg of high-grade material from the La India and Cristalito-Tatescame veins. Multi-element analysis of the metallurgy samples indicates that there are no preg-robbing elements present and the preliminary testwork demonstrated that both gravity concentration and cyanide leach are effective methods of processing the gold mineralised rock at La India with the best recoveries of between 90% and 96% achieved from a combination of gravity concentration and cyanidation of the gravity tails. The material used in the current study is more representative of the mineralisation included in the recent PEA and represents a significant step towards bringing the La India Project to BFS in the shortest possible time frame.