Motagua Norte- Guatemala
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On September 18, 2023, Radius Gold and Volcanic Gold Mines announced that they modified the Option Agreement signed in 2020 (see Radius News Release September 3, 2020) to include Radius’s Motagua Norte project in exchange for the Banderas project. The work that the Volcanic team has completed to date has demonstrated that Motagua Norte is a high-grade orogenic gold system with compelling drill targets.
Highlights
- Under the modified Option Agreement, Volcanic has an option to earn a 60% interest in the Holly and Motagua Norte projects if Volcanic spends US$7M on exploration of the properties within 48 months from March 2021, being the date drilling permits were granted for the Holly project.
- Agreement subject to shareholder approval expected December 2023
- Volcanic has invested ~US$4.29M in exploration on Holly, and under the modified Option, a minimum of $2.0M will be directed at the exploration and drilling of Motagua Norte.
- Volcanic’s geological team spent considerable time and resources evaluating Radius’s 240,000 ha regional applications in eastern Guatemala and identified the Motagua Norte prospect as high grade orogenic gold system with compelling drill targets.
The modified Option Agreement is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. As Radius and Volcanic have a common director and two common officers, Volcanic is a “non-arm’s length party” to Radius within the meaning of TSX Venture Exchange Policy 5.9. The modified option agreement is not, however, a “related party transaction” as defined in Multilateral Instrument 61-101, Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101”) and therefore the requirements of the Exchange’s Policy 5.9 and MI 61-101 do not apply. For more information, please see News Release: Radius Gold and Volcanic Gold Mines announce modification to Option Agreement to include the Motagua Norte project, September 18, 2023.
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First explorer opportunity on a bonanza-grade gold belt discovery at the Mila Target, Motagua Norte
Continuous lines of 2 m long chip channel samples of mixed outcrop and colluvium have returned average grades of 42 g/t gold along a 34 m line, and 54 g/t gold over a 24 m line from two parallel lines 70 m apart in one boulder field at the centre of the target area.
On October 11, 2023, Radius Gold and Volcanic Gold Mines announced the discovery of bonanza -grade gold discovered across wide areas at the Mila target that is part of the Cirilo-1 exploration license at the Motagua Norte project (See news release Oct. 11, 2023).
Highlights of the gold discoveries at the Mila prospect:
- Concentration of bonanza-grade and visible gold in quartz veins over a 250 x 570 m area.
- Continuous line rock chip sampling across mixed outcrop, subcrop, boulder fields of 34 m averaging 42 g/t gold and 24 m averaging 54 g/t gold.
- High-grade gold in both quartz veins and stockwork quartz in the wallrock suggests wide zones of gold mineralisation.
- Visible gold in quartz veins identified in new areas to the south and west of Mila.
- Orogenic gold-silver deposit with significant depth potential.
- Trenching and drilling planned to establish the geometry, width and grade of the gold mineralisation.
After initial prospecting and return of exceptional samples, the company wanted to understand if the very high gold grades (many samples above 1 oz gold / tonne) were the result of selective sampling or widespread across the target zones. In mixed terrain where outcrop, subcrop and float boulders cover wide areas its not possible to be sure of true width. A program of continuous 2 m chip sampling was conducted across this mixed terrain to define the distribution of gold mineralization and target trench and drill priorities.
Map of the Cirilo 1 exploration licence showing the location and gold grade of 513 rock chip samples collected during initial prospecting.
High-grade gold assays and visible gold occur in both quartz veins, and in wallrock quartz stockwork zones. Multiple quartz veins with at least two different orientations are recognised; north-south and northwest-southeast striking.
The distribution of mineralised boulder float, supported by limited outcrop data, suggests that the high-grade gold mineralisation in the Mila target is concentrated in two north-south structures approximately 200 m apart, each structure at least 250 m strike in length. The current interpretation is that one or both structures support multiple quartz veins across a width of at least 25 to 50 m. Trenching and drilling will be required to look beneath the quartz boulder cover and establish the true geometry, width and grade of the mineralised veins and wallrock stockwork zones in the Mila prospect.
TOP: High-grade gold mineralised quartz boulders cover large areas at the Mila prospect with lines of continuous chip channel sampling of mixed outcrop and colluvium returning average grades such as 42 g/t gold along a 34 m line, and 54 g/t gold along a 24 m line of samples BOTTOM: A ridge of collapsed high-grade gold-quartz vein outcrop and boulders at the Mila prospect which returned an average of 95 g/t gold across a 10 m width from 2 m chip channel samples of outcrop and boulder float.
Exploration potential and Next StepVisible gold in quartz veins were discovered south and west of Mila prospect in on-going prospecting and rock chip sampling:
- 9.34 g/t and 29.6 g/t gold in two gold quartz veins approximately 500 m south of the Mila prospect.
- Up to 60.2 g/t gold in quartz veins between 800 metres and 1700 metres west of the Mila prospect (along the regional Motagua Norte trend).
The Volcanic team expects further discoveries in the newly discovered Motagua Norte gold belt:
- Very early stage of exploration – geophysics, trenching and drilling pending.
- Orogenic vein and stockwork system in wide, deep-rooted Motagua Shear Zone with significant depth potential.
- Next step: trenching and drilling to establish geometry, width and grade of gold mineralisation. (See news release, Oct. 11, 2023)
