VANCOUVER, Aug. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Radius Gold Inc.
(TSX-V: RDU): Simon Ridgway,
President of Radius Gold, is pleased to provide an update on
progress at the Company's Sixty Mile property in the Yukon Territory. Fieldwork is well underway
and to date over 1,500 soil samples, 385 auger drill holes,
excavator trenching and a low level helicopter
magnetic-radiometric-VLF-EM survey have been completed over the
property.
The property, which consists of 741 Yukon Quartz Claims covering
approximately 140 sq.km. and 30 Alaska State claims covering 14
sq.km., straddles the Yukon/Alaska
border west of Dawson City.
Radius's exploration target is the bedrock source of the rich
placer gold in the creeks of the Sixty Mile gold camp.
Assay results for 30% of the soil and rock sampling are still
pending. However, the results received to date are very encouraging
and several drill targets have been defined. A drill is being
mobilized to the property next week and drilling should be underway
before month end. Bedrock gold mineralization has been identified
in two distinct geological settings.
1. Gold Associated with Thrust Controlled Tectonic Mélange
Geological mapping, soil sampling and the airborne geophysical
program have defined a northeast-trending tectonic mélange unit
associated with a thrust or detachment fault zone within a package
of schists and quartzites overlain by younger andesitic volcanic
rocks. This structural zone strikes through the Sixty Mile
district, cross cutting the major gold bearing creeks and is a
priority target for Radius. It has been defined to date over a
strike length of 8km and over widths varying from 250m to 800m. The
high-resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric survey completed
over the property clearly defines a radiometric anomaly coincident
with the structural zone.
Soil sampling by hand-held and mechanized auger has shown, where
sampling was possible, that the unit is locally strongly anomalous
in gold and arsenic. Limited trenching conducted within the
structural zone has returned encouraging results from a more
quartzose schist unit:
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Trench Interval (m) Au (g/t)
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TR10-3 8 1.1
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TR10-2 10 0.9
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and 10 1.6
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TR99-6 13 1.6
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Radius's field crews have experienced some difficulty trenching
through thick, frozen overburden. A Rotary Air Blast (RAB) drill
was therefore mobilized to the property to drill regularly spaced
holes along complete sections through the structural mélange where
ridges and road access allow. To date 3,000 ft. of drilling has
been completed. The RAB drilling will help to define targets for
the main diamond drilling program.
2. Epithermal Gold Mineralization in the Sixty Mile Graben Fault
Zone
Soil sampling has defined a strong gold-in-soil anomaly on the
southeastern bank of the Sixty Mile river valley. The anomaly,
which measures 800m by 300m and is open in all directions, is
defined by strongly anomalous gold values associated with andesitic
volcanic rocks and an epithermal geochemical signature. Grab
samples of the limited bedrock outcrops in the area have returned
values from trace up to 5 g/t Au. Two trenches were attempted but
again difficulties were encountered with frozen black muck. The
mineralization in the valley may be associated with the
northeast-trending Sixty Mile graben fault zone and possible splays
off that fault. Drilling will test this concept.
About the Sixty Mile Project
Radius has successfully consolidated approximately 12,000
hectares in the Sixty Mile placer gold district, which reportedly
produced over 500,000 ounces of gold from the creeks that drain the
Company's land position. The hardrock source for this placer gold
has never been determined. The regional geology, geochemical
signature and structural setting have strong similarities to the
setting of International Tower Hill's major Livengood gold
discovery in Alaska, a
multimillion-ounce gold discovery driven by the search for the
source of placer gold in that area.
Gold in the Sixty Mile district was first discovered in 1892,
when C. Miller staked claims on what was to become known as
Miller Creek. Placer gold mining has
been continuous in the district since that time and is still active
today.
The properties are located approximately 75 kilometres due west
of Dawson, adjacent to the
Yukon-Alaska border. Access to the claims is by the
posted 15-kilometre-long Sixty Mile Road, from the Top of the World
Highway.
Qualified Person
Roger Hulstein, a member of the
Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of
British Columbia and a Qualified
Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for
the accuracy of the technical information in this news release, and
for overseeing the design and execution of Radius's Sixty Mile
exploration program.
About Radius
Radius 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, including carried stakes in two small-scale
developing gold projects in Guatemala and Nicaragua. Radius also has two 100% owned
exploration plays, the HB property in Guatemala and Sixty Mile property in the
Yukon Territory - with drilling
campaigns for 2010 about to commence.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Simon Ridgway"
Simon Ridgway, President &
CEO
Investor relations: Ralph Rushton
/ Erin Ostrom
Symbol: TSXV-RDU; OTCBB-RDUFF
Shares Issued: 72.9-million
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory
Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
SOURCE Radius Gold Inc.
Copyright . 23 PR Newswire