VANCOUVER, Feb. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - Radius Gold Inc.
(TSX-V: RDU) is pleased to announce that it has signed a binding
agreement (the "Agreement") with a private exploration company (the
"Optionor") to option a 10,800 hectare property which hosts a
low-sulphidation, epithermal silver-gold vein system located
approximately 80 km ENE of the city of Guanajuato in Mexico. Radius has named the project "Santa
Brígida" after the Santa Brígida vein, one of the historically
mined veins on the property.
Artisanal-scale mining of surface outcrop is
known to have occurred in the area from pre-colonial times.
Reliable historical reports indicate that more modern small-scale
underground mining operations produced, from the late 1800s up to
1926, over 40 Moz of silver and 400 koz of gold from 1.05 Mt at
weighted-average grades of 1,300 g/t Ag and 13 g/t Au.
Mineralization is associated with two principal
vein swarms, the Pozos system and
the Santa Brígida system, each striking generally NW with steep SW
dips. Historic production focused on discrete high-grade ore shoots
within hydrothermal quartz veins and surrounding altered wall-rock.
Historical production records indicate that individual operations
mined mineralized shoots ranging from 5 kt to 300 kt in size, with
average grades ranging from 200 g/t Ag to 2,500 g/t Ag, and 2 g/t
Au to 40 g/t Au. The richest shoot documented produced 300 kt
grading 2,500 g/t Ag and 15 g/t Au.
The property is underlain by folded
Jurassic-aged sedimentary rocks including carbonaceous shales,
shales, arenites, and greywackes, which are discordantly overlain
by Cretaceous limestones and Tertiary volcanic rocks. Most of the
district is covered by recent soils and caliche, and known areas of
mineralization are all hosted by the Jurassic sedimentary sequences
where these outcrop.
Planned Work
Radius's initial exploration efforts will be
concentrated on the Santa Brígida vein system, near the town of
Mineral de Pozos, in flat-lying
agricultural and cattle grazing lands. The veins are exposed in
discontinuous outcrop over 1 km in strike length, along a regional
topographic lineament likely related to faulting, and which is
parallel and potentially genetically related to the mineralized
system. Radius believes there is excellent potential for the
extension of the Santa Brígida vein system in both directions.
The historical Santa Brígida mine exploited
three ore shoots along the vein system with mine workings up to 250
m in depth, and approximately 1.3 km in length. The potential for
discovery for Radius is chiefly along strike both to the SE and NW,
beyond the last surface expression of the vein system, where its
outcrop disappears below recent soil and caliche cover.
Exploration plans call for an exploratory
induced polarization (IP) geophysical survey to cover the ground
both to the SE and the NW of the known vein system. Survey
parameters will be designed to image the near-surface expression of
the vein system under the soil cover. A drill program will follow
to test the targets generated by the IP survey.
The Agreement
Radius can earn a 100% interest in the project
by making an immediate cash payment of US$160,000 to cover outstanding property
payments, and by completing a 3,000 meter drill program within 12
months of the issuance of a drilling permit. Once Radius has
completed the drill program, it will have 60 days to pay to the
Optionor, US$700,000 to acquire the
100% interest, subject to a 2.5% NSR royalty.
Qualified Person
Mr. David Clark,
M.Sc., P.Geo. (APEGBC), a Qualified Person as defined by National
Instrument 43-101, has verified that the technical information
contained in this news release is an accurate summary of the
information provided to Radius by the Optionor and is consistent
with known historic records, and has approved its disclosure.
About Radius
Radius has been exploring for gold in
Latin America for over a
decade. More recently the Company has focused on selling
non-core assets, thereby raising the capital needed to succeed in
making a discovery with potential to give investors the return
desired from a mineral exploration company.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Ralph Rushton"
Director
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.