Condor Gold mill deal to speed up Nicaragua project development

Condor Gold plans to accelerate development of its La India project in Nicaragua after signing an agreement to acquire a mill.

Condor will purchase a new semi-autogenous (SAG) mill for US$6.5mn from Mexico-focused First Majestic Silver, which the company no longer requires.

The warranties for the Metso Outotec mill will be assigned to Condor, the London-based company said in a statement.

The purchase will allow Condor to speed up development of La India by reducing the order time by 12 months, the company said.

Detailed engineering designs for a new purpose-built mill usually take 12-16 weeks, Condor said, with lead times for manufacture estimated at 40-45 weeks.

“The key message is Condor has purchased and sized the mill at 2,300t/d [throughput], significantly shortened the mill delivery time, set a trajectory for detailed project design and an accelerated path to production,” CEO Mark Child said.

The mill will have an initial processing capacity of 2,300t/d, which the company says could be increased to 2,850t/d by boosting the motor size.

Condor expects stage 1 production of 80,000-100,000oz/y gold at La India, using the SAG mill.

The company plans to materially expand production capacity after 2-3 years of operations.

Condor will issue US$3.0mn in shares to First Majestic and pay US$1.4mn in cash on completion and make a US$2.1mn deferred cash payment upon certain milestones, including delivery of the SAG mill and equipment.