Radius Gold Inc. (TSX-V: RDU) has reported that its joint venture partner in Nicaragua, B2Gold Corp., has completed an extensive trenching program at the Trebol gold project in northeast Nicaragua, and is preparing for a diamond drill program, to commence late 2010 or in January 2011.
In addition to the original Cerro Domingo target partially drill tested by Radius in 2008, B2Gold has identified three new drill targets located along the 6km long northeast trending corridor of mineralized volcanic rock. The targets are comprised of thick tabular zones of low sulfidation epithermal vein, hydrothermal breccia, and replaced volcanic horizons within a Tertiary volcanic sequence. These zones show good grade continuity for hundreds of meters of strike length. The three principal areas are Cerro Domingo, the Paola Zone, and Trebol North.
Two prospective areas have been outlined by trenching at Cerro Domingo. The first is defined by the previous drilling and trenching as well as the new trenching. This zone extends for at least 400m along strike and has been intercepted in the drilling at depths of as much as 200m down dip. The true thickness of the mineralization is not yet defined.
Cerro Domingo West Trenching
Drilling done by Radius in 2008 at Cerro Domingo (see Radius news releases dated August 7 and September 12, 2008) confirmed the existence of the mineralization in several drill holes.
Cerro Domingo Drilling (Radius 2008)
The second zone covers an area of over 350 meters along strike. This area has not been drilled. The two Cerro Domingo zones are separated by an east northeast trending mineralized fault zone that is as yet, poorly defined.
Cerro Domingo East Trenching
The Paola Zone is located approximately 2.5 km northeast along strike from Cerro Domingo and the intervening volcanic sequence between these zones contains numerous smaller occurrences of mineralized rock. The two principal areas within the Paola Zone are also located at major structural intersections along the main Trebol northeast trend with northwest trending crossing structures. One of these areas contains several strongly mineralized horizons inter layered with lower grade stockwork style gold mineralization in andesite. The mineralization at the Paola Zone is similar in aspect to the tabular zones at Cerro Domingo. The Paola North Zone is exposed over an area of about 200m by 400m. The Paola South zone lies 350m to the southeast and has at least 600m of strike length defined thus far. Most of the trenches in this zone end in mineralization to the west where mineralization goes under cover.
The Trebol North Zone is located another 1.7 km to the northeast of Paola, and appears to be another tabular zone in andesite. Exposure is poor at Trebol North. Trebol North and the Paola Zones have not been drill tested.
Trebol North
The near surface shallow dipping mineralization at Trebol is largely oxidized and therefore could be amenable to bulk tonnage extraction techniques. The drilling campaign will be focused on three objectives. The first is to confirm and define the near surface tabular zones at Cerro Domingo while the second is to explore the new Paola and North Trebol zones. The more important objective is to identify the high grade feeder structures that produced the tabular bodies. High grade gold values in vein and vein breccia in excess of 86 g/t have been cut in the trenching and drilling which suggests the existence of the feeder zones. A 5,000 metre drilling program is scheduled to commence at Trebol in late 2010.
Qualified Person & QA/QC
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, has verified that the information reported in this press release is an accurate summary of the information reported to Radius by B2Gold. Radius has not independently verified B2Gold's results.
B2Gold's exploration programs are reviewed and the results approved by Tom Garagan, B2Gold's Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. The programs utilize extensive QA/QC (quality assurance and quality control) protocols for assaying and sample handling that consist of the systematic insertion of blanks, standards and duplicates as well as using a secondary laboratory for regular check assaying. Samples for Trebol are submitted with blanks and industry certified standards inserted in the field and prior to reception at B2Gold's Limon Mine prep lab. Pulps are then analyzed at ALS labs in Vancouver, Canada. All results stated in this announcement have passed B2Gold's QA/QC protocols.