Condor Gold Corp., Formerly Ripped Canada Artists Inc., Announces New Stock Symbol


TORONTO, Oct. 10, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Condor Gold Corp. (formerly Ripped Canada Artists Inc.) (Pink Sheets:CDRGF) (the "Corporation") announces that it has received its new stock symbol, which is reported on the Pink Sheets under the symbol CDRGF effective October 4, 2002. Pursuant to the reverse take over transaction, which was formally completed September 20, 2002 (the "RTO"), the previously outstanding 6,474,378 common shares of Ripped Canada Artists Inc. were consolidated on a one new share for two old shares basis into 3,237,200 common shares. The Corporation issued a total of 60,000,000 consolidated common shares and warrants to purchase 530,000 consolidated common shares and an option to acquire (i) a further 12,000,000 consolidated common shares; and (ii) warrants to purchase a further 8,000,000 consolidated common shares in order to acquire all of the equivalent issued and outstanding securities of Northville Gold Corp. ("Northville"). As a result of the transaction, Northville is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Corporation.

Immediate Development Objectives

It gives the Corporation great pleasure to announce that several development and exploration avenues are presently being pursued, with positive success, specifically to increase the tonnage/grade of the three main areas of mineralization, presently identified in the Jackrabbit project south of Gogama, Ontario.

The mineral resources, as earlier reported in the "Qualifying Report on the Chester Township Property for Northville Gold Corporation" (the "Technical Report") prepared by Dr. Derek McBride, P.Eng, FGAC, a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"), are set out in the tables below. For more detailed technical information on the Northville properties, please see the Technical Report found at www.sedar.com.

Effective as of June 8, 2002 as set out in the Technical Report, the measured and indicated gold resources of the Northville Properties in the table below have been re-calculated and presented in accordance with NI 43-101 as follows:


 Deposit            Tons       Grade      Ounces      Classification
 Murgold-Chesbar   159,000     .43        68,400         Measured 
                                                         Resource
 Young-Shannon     222,000    .354        77,900         Indicated 
                                                         Resource
 Jackrabbit        342,000     .36       123,000         Indicated 
                                                      Resource (note)
 Total             723,000     .37       269,300

Effective as of June 8, 2002 as set out in the Technical Report, the inferred gold resources of the Northville Properties in the table below have been re-calculated and presented in accordance with NI 43-101 as follows:


 Deposit           Tons       Grade       Ounces       Classification
 Murgold-Chesbar  240,000     .19         41,800           Inferred 
                                                           Resource
 Young-Shannon    725,000     .16        116,000           Inferred 
                                                           Resource
 Jackrabbit       100,000     .36        36,000            Inferred 
                                                           Resource 
 Total          1,045,000     .19       193,800

Note: Calculated mining grade is 363,000 tons grading .29 ounces per ton using .10 ounce per ton cut off. It includes a recovery of 85% of the contained gold and a 25% dilution during mining. The mineral resources set out in the tables below are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

The measured and indicated resources lie above the 600-foot (180m) level in each property. The Technical Report sets out that the estimated inferred potential beyond the zones and below the 600 foot (180m) level is up to a million ton with a contained gold content of just under 200,000 ounces.

The measured resource of 68,400 ounces of Au in the Murgold-Chesbar deposit is immediately accessible from the existing ramp and underground drifts, once dewatered. This measured resource extends from surface (ledge) to at least the minus 600-foot level.

The Technical Report sets out that the measured resource data has been reconfirmed by three independent engineering companies over the past 20 years, with the calculations based on the following data sources: (i) the 1987-1988 surface drill results on the veins, which involved 56 boreholes representing 19,040 feet or 5,800 metres; (ii) the results from the test hole sampling and (iii) the extensive underground sampling, which involved panel samples, from the rib and back and muck, every 3 metres (10 feet).

The Technical Report further sets out that Wade Engineering independently resampled these underground workings (as reported in 1988) using identical sample spacings of 3 metres (10 feet) and employing percussion chisels and that the Au values from the Wade Engineering program were significantly higher than the earlier results. It should be noted from the Technical Report that Wade Engineering's calculations were based on a variable cut off, up to 0.3 ounces of Au and the assays were further cut to 1 opt. The Wade calculations were based on a width of up to 6.0 feet with 1.0 foot representing the 25% dilution figure employed.

As a reference of the quality of the aforementioned database, the Technical Report sets out that the reserve calculations yielded a "measured resource", as defined in NI 43 - 101, of 159,000 tons grading 0.43 ounces of Au per ton for a total of 68,000 ounces or 144,500 tonnes grading 14.7 gm per tonne.

In addition, the crushed rock and "muck" from the ramp and related drifts (8,060 feet) is presently stockpiled on surface and available for immediate trucking as a bulk sample.

The Corporation, subsequent to completion of the Technical Report, has carried out in excess of 9,000 feet of B.Q. core drilling on the Young-Shannon property to test the ore body from the minus 600-foot level to the minus 1,200-foot level at a cost of $250,000. Visual examination of the core has indicated visible gold and a continuity of the ore body down to the minus 1,200-foot level. Complete assay results from the drilling program have not yet been received.

The Corporation has also carried out core and surface sampling from the crushed rock and "muck" piled on surface from construction of the ramp on the Murgold-Chesbar property. Representative surface samples of the stockpile yielded Au assays ranging from 0.012 opt to 3.90 opt and averaged 0.30 opt (i.e., near the head grade of 0.33 ounces for the vein system on the Murgold-Chesbar property). On this average, the 130,000 tons of "muck" would yield 39,000 ounces of Au. The potential quantity and grade of the surface "muck" from the ramp is conceptual in nature, and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource in that regard and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the discovery of a further mineral resource.

Exploration Initiatives to be Pursued

The Corporation's President, Mr. Frank Puskas, working with an independent geologist, has identified five new exploration initiatives that the Corporation is undertaking. These include the following:

1. Expand the high-grade deposits identified in the Murgold-Chesbar, Young-Shannon and Jackrabbit properties, both laterally and at depth below the present 600-foot level arbitrary termination. This effort will be successful because of gold grade continuity and through the use of gold equivalents (i.e., the use of credits from the associated Cu and Ag). The tonnage could be increased through these efforts by between 50% and 100%. The potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature, and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource in that regard. It is therefore uncertain if further exploration will result in the discovery of a further mineral resource.

2. Expand the high grade deposits identified in the "three key areas" by means of the resource being recalculated to Au equivalents and including the economic credits from associated Cu and Ag and PGM's, etc.

3. Incorporate as many as possible of the known high-grade intersections via "new" loci identification and Au equivalent calculations.

4. "New" Au loci identification based on a "new" conceptual model. Data assessment/detail core logging has identified the source of the mineralization to be a large, composite, porphyry system. On a worldwide basis, porphyry systems are invariably large, ranging from 80 M tons to 1,000 M tons of mineralized rock. The associated mineralization, in general terms, can be either or both concentrated (suitable for underground mining) and disseminated (suitable for open pit mining). The Chester Township porphyries occupy an area of approximately 6 miles, east-west, by 3 miles north-south. "New" areas of potentially economic mineralization have been identified via application of a porphyry model, which could increase the tonnages by between fifty and one hundred percent. In other words, a doubling of the measured and indicated resources of 269,300 ounces and inferred resources of 193,800 ounces, i.e., the measured and indicated resources of 723,000 tons grading an average of 0.372 ounces of Au and an inferred resource estimate of 1,045,000 tons grading 0.189 ounces of Au. The potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature, and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource in that regard. It is therefore uncertain if further exploration will result in the discovery of a further mineral resource.

5. The pulse number two porphyry, so-called quartz "eye" porphyry greisen, has a large area of distribution. Drilling has identified two areas of concentration measuring approximately 500 feet x 1,000 feet x 1,000 feet deep and 400 feet x 900 feet x 1,000 feet deep and representing approximately 90 Mt. The potential economic credits in Au at 1 to 2 grams (excluding the economic contribution from Cu and Ag) would be up to 5.4 M oz. There will also be economic credits from the host porphyry in the form of SILICA FLUX and MICA CONCENTRATE. The entire host rock will contribute to the economic credits. The entire host rock is considered open pittable and could be consumed. Preliminary, dry separation of a representative drill core, yielded an acceptable chemistry for SiO2, moisture, CaO, MgO, Fe, Zn and Pb. The only exception was A12O3, which needs to be lowered (by means of more complete removal of mica) from 16% to 6%. Once achieved, an acceptable granular silica flux will be available for marketing. The mica concentrate may provide to be economically viable for other known elements disclosed in the assays.

Business

Northville owns or controls interests in gold properties in the townships of Chester, Benneweis, and Yeo with a total strike length of eighteen miles (collectively, the "Northville Properties"). The Northville Properties are located adjacent to a paved main highway just south of the town of Gogama, Ontario, or about 200 kilometers north of Sudbury. For more information on the Northville Properties, see the Corporation's press release dated July 29, 2002, the Management Information Circular prepared for the Corporation's annual and special meeting of shareholders held August 26, 2002 and the Qualifying Report on the Chester Township Property for Northville dated June 8, 2002, all of which can be found at www.sedar.com.

The Corporation currently has 63,237,200 Consolidated Shares issued and outstanding, inclusive of the Consolidated Shares referred to above as having being issued pursuant to the RTO.



            

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