Radius Gold Inc. Provides Guatemala Update & Announces Senior Management Changes

VANCOUVER, Jan. 25, 2012 /CNW/ - Radius Gold Inc. (TSXV: RDU) is pleased to provide an update on exploration plans for the Company's extensive land holdings in Guatemala. The Company has active precious metals exploration and development projects in Guatemala and in Nicaragua. An update on progress in Nicaragua will be given in the next few weeks.

In Guatemala, Radius is active on two fronts. In Eastern Guatemala the Company has large land holdings and concession applications in the volcanic belt that hosts the Escobal silver deposit. Closer to Guatemala City, Radius's joint venture partner Kappes Cassiday and Associates is operating the Tambor mine development project, with the aim of beginning construction of a small but potentially high grade gold mine.


Eastern Guatemala

Zapote Zone

The Zapote Zone is located approximately 1 km southwest of the Pyramid Hill zone on the Banderas property (see Radius news release dated February 3, 2011), and consists of a northwest-trending stockwork zone exposed along a ridge and a southwest-facing cliff. The stockwork zone consists of centimetre-scale epithermal quartz-chalcedony veins and veinlets hosted in felsic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks. The veins show many different orientations, but generally trend north-northwest with sub-vertical to steep east-northeast dips. Locally, within the stockwork zone, small-scale hydrothermal breccia zones are developed, characterized by felsic volcanic rock fragments hosted in a quartz-pyrite matrix.

Radius's early stage exploration results at Zapote are very positive: Anomalous gold and silver mineralisation has been detected in rock and soil samples over more than 600m strike length, and reconnaissance soil sampling indicates that the zone may extend for up to 3 km in total.

250 samples, a mix of outcrop and float, were collected across a 500 m x 300 m area trending northwest along the exposed southwest facing cliff. The samples returned gold values ranging from trace to 6.06 g/t Au, and averaged 0.94 g/t Au. Of the samples taken, 55% graded > 0.5 g/t Au, including 25% samples grading > 1 g/t Au.

Zapote has not yet been drilled and Radius is planning for an initial drill program within the next 60 days. The program will start with a pair of scissor holes beneath the main Zapote ridge to test the orientation, thickness and grade distribution of the Zapote Zone. Additional prospecting is also planned to push the zone along strike to the southeast.


The Holly Zone

The Holly Zone overlies the major regional scale east-west trending Jocotan continental transform fault, at the northern limits of the HB property. Gold and silver mineralization occurs in association with epithermal quartz and quartz-hematite veins both within the phyllites north of the fault and in the volcanic rocks to the south. All previous drilling at Holly focused to the south of the trace of the Jocotan fault in the volcanic rocks. The most encouraging results were obtained in holes HDD-001 and HDD-007 drilled in the western part of the property, targeting the depth extension of outcropping veins and quartz float aligned along a north-north-west orientation (see Radius Explorations' news release dated December 17, 2002). A +/- ten meter thick zone of epithermal veins and vein breccias was intersected in both holes, with HDD-001 reporting 14 m @ 4.14 g/t Au and 150 g/t Ag and hole HDD-007 returning 9 m @ 1.84 g/t Au and 45 g/t Ag, with hole 007 intercepting the zone 25m below hole 001. No follow-up drilling has taken place on this structure since. Recent mapping of outcrop and float has extended this zone over 700 meters to the north and it remains open. Vein fragments in the cataclastic breccia observed in drill core indicate the epithermal vein zone developed in the hanging wall of an active fault zone. Follow-up drilling will take place in the first quarter of this year targeting the depth and strike extensions of the zone and exploring for dilatational jogs within the fault, such as is seen at Tahoe Resources' world-class Escobal deposit, located in a similar tectonic environment 60km to the west-southwest of Holly.


Ivy Project

At the Ivy prospect, located 38 km due west of the Holly-Banderas property and also spatially-associated with the Jocotan fault, gold mineralization is associated with an altered diorite intrusive. The prospect was identified during follow up of regional stream sediment anomalies.

Radius' geologists have identified zones of brecciation and silicification within a diorite body that carry significant gold values. This is a very early stage prospect but initial results are very encouraging, with gold values ranging from trace up to 14 g/t Au in grab and channel samples with the intrusive body. A limestone unit that appears to overlie the diorite, possibly a roof pendant to the intrusive, shows silicification and jasperoid development with weakly anomalous Au values (200 to 400 ppb). Further prospecting of the area identified the brecciated diorite which returned the superior gold values.

A small soil sample grid was established the over the area and appears to define the anomaly in rocks well. A larger soil grid is being laid out and will be sampled in the coming months along with geological mapping and rock chip sampling to better define the size of the target.


Tambor Development Project

Radius and its joint venture partner, Kappes Cassiday and Associates continue to make progress at the Tambor mine development project in southern Guatemala. With the recent election of a pro-investment government in Guatemala, management is optimistic that construction of the proposed Tambor mine will begin during the first part of 2012, potentially giving Radius cash flow this year.


Corporate Changes

After the recent spin-out of Rackla Metals Inc., Radius's Board of Directors has approved changes to the senior management structure of the Company, to reflect Radius's return to a purely Central American focus.

Mr. Simon Ridgway, the current President of Radius, is taking on the role of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Ridgway will maintain his close involvement in the Company's Central American exploration programs.

Mr. Ralph Rushton, a director of the Company, will be moved from his current position as VP Corporate Development to take on the role of President of Radius. Mr. Rushton holds a B.Sc. in geology from Portsmouth University in the UK, a Master's degree in economic geology from the University of Alberta, and a Certificate in Business Communications from Simon Fraser University. He has worked for Radius since 2003 and is familiar with all aspects of the Company's exploration programs. He has over 20 years' experience in mining and exploration, much of which was gained working as a geologist for the Anglo American group in Southern Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

As a new addition to the Radius team, Mr. David Clark will join Radius in the position of Chief Geologist. He holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in geology from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and has been involved in mineral exploration since 1999, working on magmatic sulphide Ni-Cu-PGE, intrusion-hosted PGE, and orogenic and epithermal precious metal deposits in Canada, Mexico, and Central America. Finally, Ms. Sally Whittall, currently in charge of Corporate Compliance, will take on the role of Corporate Secretary.


Sampling Methodology, Quality Control and Assurance

Surface samples from soils, float, outcrop, and hand-dug trenches are sent to the Inspectorate Guatemala sample preparation facility in Guatemala City for sample preparation, and pulps forwarded to the Inspectorate American Corporation laboratory facility in Sparks, Nevada, for analysis. Approximately 12% of the samples submitted consist of commercial standards, blanks, and duplicate samples. These are included with each batch sent to the analytical laboratory. Gold amounts for each sample are determined by fire assay, digested in aqua regia solution and analyzed by atomic absorption finish. Samples with over 1 g/t Au are re-analysed by gravimetric finish. Ag is analysed by aqua regia digestion followed by atomic absorption finish with overlimits analysed by fire assay with gravimetric finish. A 30 element suite is analysed by ICP.


Qualified Person

Roger Hulstein, B.Sc., P.Geo., 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. Hulstein has approved the disclosure of technical information contained in this news release.


About Radius

Radius has been exploring for gold in Latin America for nearly a decade. It has assembled interests in a portfolio of promising gold projects throughout the region, including carried stakes in two small-scale gold mine development projects in Guatemala and Nicaragua, and a number of 100% owned exploration plays, including the HB property in Guatemala.


ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Simon Ridgway"
Simon Ridgway, Chairman and CEO



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.


For further information:

on Radius and its properties, please call toll free 1-888-627-9378 or visit our web site (www.radiusgold.com).