VANCOUVER, May 5 /PRNewswire/ - Radius Gold Inc. (TSX-V:
RDU) is pleased to provide a comprehensive update on its recent
exploration activities in the highly prospective low-sulphidation
epithermal gold-silver district in eastern Guatemala. Radius holds over 1,500 sq. km. of
granted concessions and concession applications in the region
covering a virtually unexplored Tertiary volcanic belt that has
recently been shown to host world class intermediate and low
sulphidation silver/gold deposits.
Recent highlights of Radius' work include:
- Delineation of an impressive zone of high-level chalcedonic
silica currently traced for over 400m along strike and over 100m
wide locally within the Zapote trend of the HB property. Initial
sampling of outcrop at Zapote has returned gold values from a low
of 0.50 to a high of over 6.0 g/t Au. Trenching and extensive
outcrop sampling are presently underway.
- Identification of a high grade zone on the north side of the
Holly ridge. Previous prospecting and sampling in this area
discovered quartz boulders believed to be float, grading from just
under 1 g/t Au up to 112 g/t Au and over 5,600 g/t Ag. Trenching in
the area has revealed texturally-similar quartz veins in
situ in the schists directly below the boulders. This is a
significant find as little work has previously been done on the
north side of the Jocotan fault, despite the presence of large,
coherent, untested gold in soil anomalies there.
- Completion of 14 diamond drill holes into the Pyramid Hill and
M28 zones. Drill results are disappointing (see below). However, a
structural study of drill core and outcrop by SRK confirms a strong
northwest trending gold bearing fault zone with a strike of over
3km that has been tested only at very high levels. The study
results indicate that Radius' work has been focused above the
"productive zone" of the epithermal system. Additional drilling is
being planned to target substantially deeper levels than any
previous work at HB.
Zapote Zone
The Zapote zone is southwest of, and probably
parallel to the M28 / Pyramid Hill zones. At surface the zone is an
impressive, steeply west-dipping vein exposed with a true thickness
of between 5 to 10m, although the orientation is still uncertain.
The distribution of float, subcrop, and small veinlet orientation
suggests the presence of another mineralized vein with a different
orientation to the one described above, although more work is
necessary to confirm that.
Trenching is underway, and all samples collected
to date are highly anomalous in Au (i.e. in the ppm range).
The first 23 samples collected returned an average grade of 2.01
g/t Au, ranging from 0.50 to 6.0 g/t Au. Systematic sampling and
trenching should help define the true width and nature of the
vein(s).
Zapote appears to be high in a hydrothermal
system: massive chalcedony dominates in outcrop. Radius' geologists
believe that there is potential at depth for better grades, which
could present a very attractive drill target if the vein stays as
thick as it appears to be at surface.
The Pino Zone
A data review by Radius highlighted 17 historic
grab samples of electrum-bearing epithermal vein quartz collected
from the Pino zone, a low sulphidation epithermal quartz vein
hosted by schists on the northwestern side of the HB project. Gold
assay results from the 17 samples ranged from just under 1 g/t Au
to 112 g/t Au, with an average of 19.8 g/t Au. Silver values range
from trace to 7,091.8 g/t Ag.
Radius' historic exploration in the area focused
on the younger volcanic rocks to the south of the major Jocotan
fault. The grab samples reported below were collected from the
schists on the northern side of the fault, and were previously
interpreted as transported float rocks not in situ. Radius'
geologists have trenched below the float samples and encountered
similar material hosted by the schists, suggesting that the high
grade float reflects the presence of veins in the schists and is
not transported material. Assay results are expected in the next 2
weeks from the trench samples and a table of the most significant
historic grab sample results is given below:
|
|
|
Sample # |
Au (g/t) fire assay |
Ag (g/t) |
18258 |
112.41 |
5,600.0 |
18256 |
79.28 |
7,091.8 |
18257 |
33.75 |
1,030.0 |
12296 |
27.98 |
1,423.4 |
18253 |
19.96 |
237.3 |
11093 |
14.38 |
880.7 |
18255 |
11.18 |
401.1 |
16067 |
7.67 |
258.6 |
18286 |
6.51 |
201.3 |
18254 |
4.46 |
97.0 |
18264 |
3.64 |
14.7 |
18289 |
3.15 |
35.9 |
16083 |
3.90 |
10.4 |
11092 |
3.49 |
18.8 |
17018 |
1.78 |
Tr |
17038 |
1.30 |
Tr |
17023 |
0.96 |
9.4 |
M28 / Pyramid Hill Drilling
Forty-nine holes have been drilled at Banderas
since 2002 including 6 RC holes. Most drilling has targeted the M28
and Pyramid Hill zones, part of a 3 kilometre long,
northwest-southeast-trending structural corridor that hosts zones
of gold/silver-bearing quartz veins, vein breccias and quartz vein
stockwork zones. A comprehensive in-house review of Radius' full
data set on the HB project is currently underway, and SRK
Consulting (Canada) Inc. has been
commissioned to complete a structural geological study of the
project.
The initial findings of both studies, combined
with the findings of a TerraSpec study on the alteration minerals
present at surface and in core samples at HB, suggest that Radius'
drilling is still testing too shallow in the epithermal system and
has not reached what would be termed the "productive horizon" where
economic gold and silver grades would be expected to occur over
mineable widths. The work is indicating that drilling needs to
target between 300-700m vertically below the paleo water table.
Interestingly, RC drill hole BRC04-024 cut an argentite-bearing
quartz vein over 1.5m core length which graded 69.97 g/t Au + 516
g/t Ag, and is both the highest grade and deepest drill
intersection on the Banderas property.
Consequently, Radius has stopped drilling at HB
until the full data review is complete. Management currently
anticipates that the project review will result in a recommendation
for a major drill program to commence later in 2011 or early
2012.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hole* |
From (m) |
To (m) |
Width (m) |
Au g/t |
Ag g/t |
10-008 |
73.43 |
77.03 |
3.60 |
0.84 |
12.0 |
10-009 |
NSV** |
- |
- |
- |
- |
10-010 |
NSV |
- |
- |
- |
- |
10-010A |
NSV |
- |
- |
- |
- |
10-011 |
NSV |
- |
- |
- |
- |
10-012 |
192.32 |
193.60 |
1.28 |
0.32 |
36.6 |
10-013 |
61.53 |
62.53 |
1.00 |
38.35 |
159.9 |
10-013 |
68.75 |
75.30 |
6.55 |
0.56 |
239.8 |
incl. |
68.75 |
69.75 |
1.00 |
1.34 |
95.4 |
10-014 |
25.08 |
27.43 |
2.35 |
1.46 |
14.0 |
10-014 |
74.00 |
75.10 |
1.10 |
0.82 |
48.1 |
10-014 |
136.64 |
137.64 |
1.00 |
12.3 |
37.3 |
10-014 |
179.65 |
181.00 |
1.35 |
18.1 |
20.9 |
*All holes carry the prefix BDD **NSV=No Significant Values
(