VANCOUVER, April 29 /CNW/ - Radius Gold Inc. (TSX-V: RDU) - Radius Gold is pleased to announce that it has reactivated its Banderas & Holly projects in eastern Guatemala. Radius discovered and drilled these gold-silver projects between 2002 and 2004 when gold and silver spot prices were close to their record lows. However, recent discoveries in the region underscore the potential of the district and have lead Radius' technical team to review the geology and the results obtained by the previous work. Upon review, and with the present gold/silver price in mind, management feels that these projects warrant a significant investment in further drilling.
At Banderas, Radius completed 2 phases of drilling in 2003 and 2004 (see Radius news releases dated December 3, 2003 & April 3, 2004). The drilling was successful in confirming continuity of gold-silver mineralization both along strike and at depth on at least two of the targets tested:
- At the M28 Zone, so called for the 28 g/t Au discovery sample, gold
mineralization is hosted in a flow breccia at the base of a rhyolite
flow unit where it contacts an underlying andesite unit. Eight holes,
drilled on two section lines, were drilled through the rhyolite to
test the breccia. Holes BDD-003 to BDD -008, BDD-018 and BDD-019, all
cut potentially important Au+Ag mineralization.
- A second target, a north-south trending soil and rock anomaly with a
strike length of over 2km, was superficially tested with six holes.
All holes cut a broad zone (+30m) of low grade gold/silver with
narrow higher grade intercepts such as reported for holes 014 and 022
in the table below.
The data review also showed that some significant gold-in-soil anomalies reflecting possible strike extensions to mineralization were never drill tested. The area between the 2 projects which contains strike extensions of key structural features that may be controlling the mineralization, has seen some initial prospecting but no significant follow-up.
Radius has therefore restarted work at both projects with renewed prospecting and data compilation underway ahead of a planned drill program in summer 2010 to test known and newly discovered veins down dip. Infrastructure near both projects is excellent and they can be reached after a 45 minute drive up into the hills surrounding the eastern Guatemalan town of Chiquimula.
Simon Ridgway, the President of Radius, commented: "Our review of the historic exploration drilling, and observations from recent site visits by management and consultants, have highlighted real potential that did not exist in the past when precious metal prices were lower and before the recent Escobal high grade silver discovery located just west of Holly and Banderas. It is clear that there is excellent potential at depth and further exploration along strike of key anomalies is warranted. We are putting a project team in place and I look forward to reporting on progress from the project during this year's field season."
Highlights of the results for Banderas and Holly are tabled below and can also be found on the Radius Gold website at www.radiusgold.com:
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Hole No. From To Interval Au g/t Ag g/t
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Banderas
BDD-003 27.2 31.9 4.7 3.2 115
BDD-004 53.9 58.2 4.3 6.0 72
BDD-005 27.0 30.5 3.5 3.6 60
BDD-006 48.2 50.5 2.3 4.6 75.2
BDD-007 77.7 79.3 1.6 7.5 33
BDD-008 86.9 90.5 3.6 9.3 41
BDD-014 56.3 58.5 2.2 6.9 262
BDD-018 67.9 71.6 3.7 3.9 68
BDD-019 86.9 89.6 2.6 6.8 95
BDD-022 62.5 69.2 6.7 3.9 65
BRC-04-024 165.0 174.5 9.0 12.4 95
Holly
HDD-1 34.8 49.0 14.2 4.1 150
HDD-5 19.1 29.7 10.6 8.0 263
HDD-7 19.1 22.7 3.6 22.0 697
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About Banderas & Holly
Holly and Banderas are both low sulphidation epithermal gold-silver veins systems hosted by bimodal volcanic rock packages. The Holly project was discovered by Radius in a road cut during follow-up of a regional stream sediment sampling program. Gold and silver mineralization is hosted by zones of narrow, sheeted quartz veinlets with local bonanza Au and Ag grades. The Banderas gold-silver vein system was discovered in the same follow-up program in early 2002. Potentially economic precious metal mineralization at Banderas occurs in banded quartz-adularia veins associated with rhyolitic flows and domes. In 2004, Glamis Gold optioned the Banderas property and tested for bulk mineable gold mineralization in the RAT zone, a broad low grade soil anomaly without success. The property was returned to Radius in 2005 and the Company has held the property since that time and has conducted minimal exploration work until now.
Qualified Person
David Cass, Radius's Vice-President of Exploration, 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. Cass is responsible for the accuracy of the technical information in this news release.
About Radius
Radius Gold Inc. has been exploring for gold in Latin America for nearly a decade, and has assembled interests in a portfolio of promising gold projects throughout the region. In Guatemala, Kappes Cassidy is developing a high grade gold mine on Radius's Tambor project under a joint venture/earn-in agreement. In Nicaragua, B2Gold is exploring Radius' extensive land holdings and investigating early gold production opportunities at the Pavon project. In Peru, Radius has optioned the Nueva California project to Focus Ventures for a substantial equity holding in Focus and royalty interests in any future production from the project. In the Yukon Territory, Radius has acquired interests in various areas by staking and option agreements and has in turn optioned out portions in return for equity positions and carried interests in the properties.
For further information on Radius Gold Inc. and its properties, please call toll free 1-888-627-9378 or visit our web site (www.radiusgold.com).
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Ralph Rushton"
Ralph Rushton,
Vice-President, Corporate Development
Investor relations: Ralph Rushton / Erin Ostrom
Symbol: TSXV-RDU; OTCBB-RDUFF
Shares Issued: 53.6-million
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For further information: on Radius Gold Inc. and its properties, please call toll free 1-888-627-9378 or visit our web site (www.radiusgold.com)
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