NEVSUN RESOURCES VANCOUVER, Sept. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ - Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU) (NYSE MKT:NSU) (Nevsun or the Company) is pleased to announce new assay results from the on-going 2015 Regional Exploration program at Bisha.
HIGHLIGHTS
-- New drilling expands Harena by 250 m to the south and 100 m at depth
-- New massive sulphide intersections at Harena include:
-- HX-058: 1.31% Cu, 2.84% Zn, 0.35 g/t Au, 27 g/t Ag over 70.2m
including 3.58% Cu, 1.95% Zn, 0.69 g/t Au, 49 g/t Ag over 11.7m
-- HX-054B: 1.13% Cu, 2.48% Zn, 0.33 g/t Au, 24 g/t Ag over 67.0 m
including 2.66% Cu, 1.60% Zn, 0.69 g/t Au, 54 g/t Ag over 10.7 m
-- HX-052: 1.01% Cu, 4.33% Zn, 0.96 g/t Au, 32 g/t Ag over 57.3 m
including 3.44% Cu, 0.21% Zn, 7.49 g/t Au, 184 g/t Ag over 5.4 m
-- HX-053: 0.83% Cu, 4.08% Zn, 0.77 g/t Au, 30 g/t Ag over 28.8 m
Including 0.37% Cu, 9.56% Zn, 0.16 g/t Au, 13 g/t Ag over 11.0 and
2.11% Cu, 1.23% Zn, 0.79 g/t Au, 41 g/t Ag over 8.4 m
-- Harena still open with geophysical modeling suggesting further expansion
potential possible
-- At Bisha, drilling at the southern end of the deposit demonstrates
massive sulphides continue below the known deposit
Nevsun CEO Cliff Davis commented, "Our exploration programs at Bisha continue to produce excellent results. Drilling at Harena in particular, has been very encouraging. A mine plan optimization study for the Bisha operation is currently underway and the results from this new drilling will be included in this evaluation. We also look forward to returning later in the year to Aderat and Asheli on the Mogoraib Exploration License to further evaluate these recent discoveries."
Harena
Drilling at Harena, located 10 kilometres south of the Bisha processing plant, continues to expand the deposit along strike and at depth.
Holes HX-052, HX-054B and HX-058 further evaluated the Lower Zone high conductance borehole geophysical plate model associated with previously reported hole HX-050 (1.66% Cu, 6.62% Zn, 0.41 g/t Au, 28 g/t Ag over 67.2 metres). These holes demonstrate that the Lower Zone massive sulphide body remains thick down dip and down plunge and retains its classic high copper footwall zonation. It is still open to depth.
Holes HX-048, HX-049, HX-053 and HX-059 targeted the Upper Zone moderate conductance borehole geophysical plate model and continued to expand this zone down plunge to the south with the zone appearing to thicken. Hole HX-059 intersected a 33.0 metre wide zone grading 0.57% Cu, 4.30% Zn, 0.88 g/t Au, 61 g/t Ag. The zone remains open to the south and at depth with the geophysical modeling suggesting that mineralization likely continues for a significant distance in that direction.
Hole HX-057 was drilled into a gap between the geophysical plate models for the Upper Zone and Lower Zone. This hole intersected 14.4 metres of massive sulphide grading 0.33% Cu, 7.32% Zn, 0.20 g/t Au, 9 g/t Ag. The mineralization appears to be at a deeper level in the felsic volcanic host rock and is possibly a new separate zone. Borehole geophysical modeling suggests the mineralization intersected in HX-057 is located near the center of a relatively large conductive zone.
Bisha
Part of the 2015 Regional Exploration program is exploration around the perimeter of the Bisha Main deposit both at depth and along strike.
Geophysical modeling of historic borehole responses from the Bisha deposit indicate that the southern half of the Bisha deposit likely continues down plunge below the known deposit for at least 200 metres. Four holes were drilled to test this concept, with the drilling being limited by mining activities in the pit. Three of the four holes intersected massive sulphides ranging from 10 metres to 25 metres in thickness. The massive sulphides are zoned with an upper base metal rich horizon and a lower low grade section. The best result was obtained in BX-010: 1.01% Cu, 3.21% Zn 0.61 g/t Au, 29 g/t Ag over 8.5 metres approximately 200 metres below the known deposit. The limited drilling has confirmed that Bisha continues to depth over an approximately 400 metre wide zone. Further drilling is required to determine the full extent and nature of this mineralization.
Quality Assurance
A Quality Assurance/Quality Control program was part of the assaying program at Bisha. This program includes chain of custody protocols as well as systematic use of standards, duplicates and blank samples into the flow of samples produced by the sampling. All samples were prepared and analyzed at Bisha's on-site laboratory independently operated by SGS.
Drilling intercept lengths only are reported in the tables and text below.
Mr. Robert Foy P.Geo., BMSC's Exploration Manager, has been overseeing the drilling at Bisha and is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Foy has reviewed the technical content of this press release and approved its dissemination.
About Nevsun Resources Ltd.
Nevsun Resources Ltd. is a Vancouver-based mining company with an operating mine in Eritrea. Nevsun's 60%-owned Bisha Mine ranks as one of the highest grade open pit copper mines in the world. Nevsun has a strong balance sheet and future cash flows to grow shareholder value through exploration at Bisha and acquisition of additional mining assets.
Forward Looking Statements
The above contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimated," "potential," "possible" and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results "will," "may," "could" or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are statements concerning the Company's current beliefs, plans and expectations about the future including but not limited to commercial production, future production of copper and related cash flows and are inherently uncertain. The actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, without limitation, the risks that: (i) any of the assumptions in the historical resource estimates turn out to be incorrect, incomplete, or flawed in any respect; (ii) the methodologies and models used to prepare the resource and reserve estimates either underestimate or overestimate the resources or reserves due to hidden or unknown conditions, (iii) exploration activities or the mine operations are disrupted or suspended due to acts of god, internal conflicts in the country of Eritrea, unforeseen government actions or other events; (iv) the Company experiences the loss of key personnel; (v) the Company's operations or exploration activities are adversely affected by other political or military, or terrorist activities; (vi) the Company becomes involved in any material disputes with any of its key business partners, suppliers or customers; (vii) the Company is subjected to any hostile takeover or other unsolicited attempts to acquire control of the Company; (viii) the Company is subject to any adverse ruling in any of the pending litigation to which it is a party; (ix) the Company incurs unanticipated power interruptions or failures due to electrical circuit failures or inadequate fuel quality or supply required to effectively operate power generators for the plant or otherwise or costs or required repairs to the copper floatation plant; or (x) are associated with the speculative nature of exploration activities, periodic interruptions to exploration, failure of drilling, processing and mining equipment, the interpretation of drill results and the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, changes to exploration and project plans and parameters and other risks are more fully described in the Company's Annual Information Form for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference. The Company's forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made and the Company assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements in the future, except as required by law. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements.
Further information concerning risks and uncertainties associated with these forward-looking statements and our business can be found in our Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2014, which is available on the Company's website (www.nevsun.com), filed under our profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on EDGAR (www.sec.gov) under cover of Form 40-F
NEVSUN RESOURCES LTD.
"Cliff T. Davis"
Cliff T. Davis
President & Chief Executive
Officer
NSU15-22.doc
Table of Harena and Bisha Intersections
HOLE From To Length Cu (%) Zn (%) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t)
ID (m) (m) (m)
--- --- --- ---
Harena Main - Lower Zone
------------------------
HX-052 596.40 653.70 57.30 1.01 4.33 0.96 31.5
------ ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ----
HX-054B 691.70 758.70 67.00 1.13 2.48 0.33 23.5
------- ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ----
includes 714.00 727.50 13.50 1.98 0.60 0.51 38.2
-------- ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ----
and 748.00 758.70 10.70 2.66 1.60 0.69 54.4
--- ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ----
HX-055 630.80 645.50 14.70 0.33 1.65 0.11 3.9
------ ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ---
HX-058 640.00 710.20 70.20 1.31 2.84 0.35 26.8
------ ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ----
includes 640.00 651.00 11.00 1.76 1.17 0.56 46.7
-------- ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ----
and 698.50 710.20 11.70 3.58 1.95 0.69 49.1
--- ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ----
Harena Main - Upper Zone
-------------------------
HX-048 369.10 390.00 20.90 0.97 1.87 0.85 38.4
------ ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ----
includes 372.30 378.00 5.70 0.65 6.17 1.81 63.9
-------- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
and 380.70 384.90 4.20 2.55 0.27 0.64 57.8
--- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
HX-049 424.00 434.00 10.00 0.40 5.27 1.04 23.7
------ ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ----
HX-053 510.00 538.80 28.80 0.83 4.08 0.77 30.4
------ ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ----
includes 510.00 521.00 11.00 0.37 9.56 0.16 12.9
-------- ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ----
and 524.90 533.30 8.40 2.11 1.23 0.79 40.5
--- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
HX-057 644.00 658.40 14.40 0.33 7.32 0.20 8.9
------ ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ---
includes 644.70 653.50 8.80 0.12 9.66 0.11 3.2
-------- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ---
HX-059 529.30 562.30 33.00 0.57 4.30 0.88 60.8
------ ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ----
Harena Main - Gold Zone
-----------------------
HX-052 648.30 653.70 5.40 3.44 0.21 7.49 183.6
------ ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- -----
HX-053 534.30 538.80 4.50 0.54 0.21 3.24 96.3
------ ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
HOLE From To Length Cu (%) Zn (%) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t)
ID (m) (m) (m)
--- --- --- ---
Bisha Main
----------
BX-010 485.50 511.00 25.50 0.60 1.62 0.43 14.9
------ ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ----
Includes 485.50 494.00 8.50 1.01 3.21 0.61 28.8
-------- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
and 501.50 507.50 6.00 0.63 2.04 0.44 11.8
--- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
BX-011 No Significant
Values
------ --------------
BX-012 437.00 441.30 4.30 2.35 3.90 0.91 68.9
------ ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
and 441.30 458.00 16.70 0.03 0.11 0.10 2.5
--- ------ ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ---
BX-013 621.00 630.80 9.80 0.70 4.34 0.44 29.3
------ ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Note: Holes HX-056 and HX-
056A did not reach
target depth due to
technical difficulties
Drill Collar Locations
HOLE UTM UTM Elevation Depth Dip Azimuth
ID Easting Northing (m)
--- ------- -------- ---
Harena Drill Collar Locations
-----------------------------
HX-048 334301 1707587 603 551 -70 125
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-049 334179 1707550 603 536 -63 125
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-050 334236 1707634 602 692 -72 125
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-051 334248 1707691 602 663 -70 125
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-052 334189 1707789 601 752 -66 125
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-053 334121 1707590 603 629 -66 123
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-054 334040 1707648 600 151 -68 123
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-054A 334040 1707648 600 341 -74 123
------- ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-054B 334039 1707649 602 848 -70 123
------- ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-055 334242 1707871 600 740 -68 122
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-056 334140 1707703 602 465 -73 122
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-056A 334140 1707702 600 171 -73 122
------- ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-057 334028 1707538 603 708 -68 122
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-058 334140 1707702 600 804 -69 122
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
HX-059 334029 1707537 600 651 -63 122
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
Bisha Drill Collar Locations
----------------------------
BX-010 339075 1715200 565 636 -55 090
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
BX-011 339017 1715549 550 686 -58 086
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
BX-012 339077 1715200 565 602 -45 086
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
BX-013 338960 1715350 564 896 -57 085
------ ------ ------- --- --- --- ---
Note: Collar coordinates are in UTM
WGS84 Zone37N
Note: Holes HX-056 and HX-056A
did not reach target depth
due to technical
difficulties
SOURCE Nevsun Resources Ltd.
