Condor Gold shares jump on Nicaragua concession licence

Shares in Condor Gold (LON:CNR) climbed over 10% Friday after it announced the Nicaraguan ministry of energy and mines had granted it the Las Cruces concession, which expands its La India gold project package by 45%.

The 25-year exploration and exploitation concession covers an area of 142.6 km2, expanding the La India land package to 455.6 km2. Condor Gold’s project now includes a total 11 adjacent and contiguous exploration and exploitation concessions.

The company can now apply for environmental permit to carry out low impact activities, but before it can start exploration, it will be meeting stakeholders to discuss activities and obtain permission from landowners.

Chairman and CEO Mark Child said the granting of the concession confirmed that Nicaragua was pro-mining and open for business.

He added that the La India project could be a major gold district and that it had the potential to host more than 5-million ounces of gold.

Condor Gold initially staked concessions in Nicaragua, Central America’s largest country, in 2006. Since then, mining has significantly taken off in the country due to the arrival of foreign companies with the cash and knowledge to tap into its reserves.

According to an independent study published last year, by exploiting just 0.3% of Nicaragua's land, the mining sector has been able to double gold production and increase silver output by up to seven times in the last 11 years.

Today, gold is the nation’s third largest export, Child said in an interview with MINING.com earlier this year.

In August, the company received a long-awaited environmental permit for a 2,800 tonnes-per-day processing plant at La India. Thanks to that green light, construction is expected to start in the next 18 months and extend for up to two years. But before the work begins, the company has to submit to the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources final engineered designs for several key components of the mine such as the tailings storage facility.

source: MINING.COM