VANCOUVER, Jan. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Radius Gold Inc.
(TSXV: RDU) is pleased to provide an update on exploration plans
for the Company's extensive land holdings in Guatemala. The Company has active precious
metals exploration and development projects in Guatemala and in Nicaragua. An update on progress in
Nicaragua will be given in the
next few weeks.
In Guatemala,
Radius is active on two fronts. In Eastern Guatemala the Company has large land
holdings and concession applications in the volcanic belt that
hosts the Escobal silver deposit. Closer to Guatemala City, Radius's joint venture partner
Kappes Cassiday and Associates is operating the Tambor mine
development project, with the aim of beginning construction of a
small but potentially high grade gold mine.
Eastern
Guatemala
Zapote Zone
The Zapote Zone is located approximately 1 km
southwest of the Pyramid Hill zone on the Banderas property (see
Radius news release dated February 3,
2011), and consists of a northwest-trending stockwork zone
exposed along a ridge and a southwest-facing cliff. The stockwork
zone consists of centimetre-scale epithermal quartz-chalcedony
veins and veinlets hosted in felsic volcanic and volcaniclastic
rocks. The veins show many different orientations, but generally
trend north-northwest with sub-vertical to steep east-northeast
dips. Locally, within the stockwork zone, small-scale hydrothermal
breccia zones are developed, characterized by felsic volcanic rock
fragments hosted in a quartz-pyrite matrix.
Radius's early stage exploration results at
Zapote are very positive: Anomalous gold and silver mineralisation
has been detected in rock and soil samples over more than 600m
strike length, and reconnaissance soil sampling indicates that the
zone may extend for up to 3 km in total.
250 samples, a mix of outcrop and float, were
collected across a 500 m x 300 m area trending northwest along the
exposed southwest facing cliff. The samples returned gold values
ranging from trace to 6.06 g/t Au, and averaged 0.94 g/t Au. Of the
samples taken, 55% graded > 0.5 g/t Au, including 25% samples
grading > 1 g/t Au.
Zapote has not yet been drilled and Radius is
planning for an initial drill program within the next 60 days. The
program will start with a pair of scissor holes beneath the main
Zapote ridge to test the orientation, thickness and grade
distribution of the Zapote Zone. Additional prospecting is also
planned to push the zone along strike to the southeast.
The Holly Zone
The Holly Zone overlies the major regional scale
east-west trending Jocotan continental transform fault, at the
northern limits of the HB property. Gold and silver
mineralization occurs in association with epithermal quartz and
quartz-hematite veins both within the phyllites north of the fault
and in the volcanic rocks to the south. All previous drilling at
Holly focused to the south of the trace of the Jocotan fault in the
volcanic rocks. The most encouraging results were obtained in
holes HDD-001 and HDD-007 drilled in the western part of the
property, targeting the depth extension of outcropping veins and
quartz float aligned along a north-north-west orientation (see
Radius Explorations' news release dated December 17, 2002). A +/- ten meter thick zone of
epithermal veins and vein breccias was intersected in both holes,
with HDD-001 reporting 14 m @ 4.14 g/t Au and 150 g/t Ag and hole
HDD-007 returning 9 m @ 1.84 g/t Au and 45 g/t Ag, with hole 007
intercepting the zone 25m below hole 001. No follow-up
drilling has taken place on this structure since. Recent
mapping of outcrop and float has extended this zone over 700 meters
to the north and it remains open. Vein fragments in the
cataclastic breccia observed in drill core indicate the epithermal
vein zone developed in the hanging wall of an active fault
zone. Follow-up drilling will take place in the first quarter
of this year targeting the depth and strike extensions of the zone
and exploring for dilatational jogs within the fault, such as is
seen at Tahoe Resources' world-class Escobal deposit, located in a
similar tectonic environment 60km to the west-southwest of
Holly.
Ivy Project
At the Ivy prospect, located 38 km due west of
the Holly-Banderas property and also spatially-associated with the
Jocotan fault, gold mineralization is associated with an altered
diorite intrusive. The prospect was identified during follow
up of regional stream sediment anomalies.
Radius' geologists have identified zones of
brecciation and silicification within a diorite body that carry
significant gold values. This is a very early stage prospect
but initial results are very encouraging, with gold values ranging
from trace up to 14 g/t Au in grab and channel samples with the
intrusive body. A limestone unit that appears to overlie the
diorite, possibly a roof pendant to the intrusive, shows
silicification and jasperoid development with weakly anomalous Au
values (200 to 400 ppb). Further prospecting of the area identified
the brecciated diorite which returned the superior gold values.
A small soil sample grid was established the
over the area and appears to define the anomaly in rocks
well. A larger soil grid is being laid out and will be
sampled in the coming months along with geological mapping and rock
chip sampling to better define the size of the target.
Tambor Development Project
Radius and its joint venture partner, Kappes
Cassiday and Associates continue to make progress at the Tambor
mine development project in southern Guatemala. With the recent election of a
pro-investment government in Guatemala, management is optimistic that
construction of the proposed Tambor mine will begin during the
first part of 2012, potentially giving Radius cash flow this
year.
Corporate Changes
After the recent spin-out of Rackla Metals Inc.,
Radius's Board of Directors has approved changes to the senior
management structure of the Company, to reflect Radius's return to
a purely Central American focus.
Mr. Simon
Ridgway, the current President of Radius, is taking on the
role of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of
Directors. Mr. Ridgway will maintain his close involvement in the
Company's Central American exploration programs.
Mr. Ralph
Rushton, a director of the Company, will be moved from his
current position as VP Corporate Development to take on the role of
President of Radius. Mr. Rushton holds a B.Sc. in geology from
Portsmouth University in the UK, a Master's degree in economic
geology from the University of Alberta,
and a Certificate in Business Communications from Simon Fraser University. He has worked for Radius
since 2003 and is familiar with all aspects of the Company's
exploration programs. He has over 20 years' experience in mining
and exploration, much of which was gained working as a geologist
for the Anglo American group in Southern
Africa, the Middle East and
Eastern Europe.
As a new addition to the Radius team, Mr.
David Clark will join Radius in the
position of Chief Geologist. He holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in
geology from McGill University,
Montreal, Canada, and has been
involved in mineral exploration since 1999, working on magmatic
sulphide Ni-Cu-PGE, intrusion-hosted PGE, and orogenic and
epithermal precious metal deposits in Canada, Mexico, and Central
America. Finally, Ms. Sally
Whittall, currently in charge of Corporate Compliance, will
take on the role of Corporate Secretary.
Sampling Methodology, Quality Control and
Assurance
Surface samples from soils, float, outcrop, and
hand-dug trenches are sent to the Inspectorate Guatemala sample
preparation facility in Guatemala
City for sample preparation, and pulps forwarded to the
Inspectorate American Corporation laboratory facility in
Sparks, Nevada, for
analysis. Approximately 12% of the samples submitted consist
of commercial standards, blanks, and duplicate samples. These
are included with each batch sent to the analytical laboratory.
Gold amounts for each sample are determined by fire assay, digested
in aqua regia solution and analyzed by atomic absorption
finish. Samples with over 1 g/t Au are re-analysed by
gravimetric finish. Ag is analysed by aqua regia digestion followed
by atomic absorption finish with overlimits analysed by fire assay
with gravimetric finish. A 30 element suite is analysed by
ICP.
Qualified Person
Roger Hulstein,
B.Sc., P.Geo., is a member of the Association of Professional
Engineers and Geoscientists of British
Columbia and is the Company's Qualified Person as defined by
National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Hulstein has approved the
disclosure of technical information contained in this news
release.
About Radius
Radius has been exploring for gold in
Latin America for nearly a
decade. It has assembled interests in a portfolio of
promising gold projects throughout the region, including carried
stakes in two small-scale gold mine development projects in
Guatemala and Nicaragua, and a number of 100% owned
exploration plays, including the HB property in Guatemala.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Simon Ridgway"
Simon Ridgway, Chairman and CEO
Investor relations: Jaclyn
Ruptash
Symbol: TSXV-RDU; OTCBB-RDUFF
Shares Issued: 86.6-million
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the
Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy
or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statement
Some of the statements in this news release contain
forward-looking information that involves inherent risk and
uncertainty affecting the business of Radius Gold Inc. Actual
results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in
such statement.
SOURCE Radius Gold Inc.
