Cracked block surrounding exhaust valve guide?

[montanafordman]

I took my intake and exhaust manifolds off, and also my valve cover doing some cleaning on my engine block while I had the front end off and noticed that the block appears chipped / cracked around the exhaust valve guide. Can anyone tell me if this is common, or if it needs to be repaired, or can be repaired? Just how serious is this? I only drove the car around for a week or so before I started dismantling the front for a new front spring, brakes, radiator etc. but during that time the engine seemed to run fine and cruised along at 40 with no apparent problems. I did not take any real long drives or stress it too much, but it seemed powerful enough.