http://www.nevsun.com/
2013 Press Releases
May 23, 2013
Nevsun Announces Drilling Results From Northwest Zone Near Bisha Mine
Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX: NSU / NYSE MKT: NSU) is pleased to announce diamond drill results from resource definition drilling at the Northwest Zone, located 1.2 km from the Bisha processing plant.
HIGHLIGHTS
Northwest Zone still open to south, north and at depth
Additional parallel zone discovered but limited drilling to date
Mineral Resource estimate and Bisha Mineral Reserve update in early 2014
Select High Grade Results Include:
Hole NW-050 - 75.9 m _at_ 1.28% Cu and 0.18% Zn, from 131.1 m to 207.0 m in massive and stringer sulphide
Hole NW-031 - 37.5 m _at_ 0.89% Cu and 4.13% Zn, from 96.0 m to 133.5 m in massive and stringer sulphide
Hole NW-072 - 15.0 m @ 28.6 g/t Au from 38.0 m to 53.0 m in surficial weathered zone
Hole NWDD-108 - 4.1 m @ 19.17% Cu from 64.9 m to 69.0 m in supergene-enriched massive sulphide
Bisha Mining Share Company (BMSC) has now completed the initial resource definition drilling program at its Northwest Zone located 1.2 km from its operating Bisha Mine. In 2013, 15,890 meters of drilling was completed at the Northwest Zone. This is in addition to 4,325 meters completed in 2011 and 13,520 meters completed in 2012. The system remains open to the north, south and at depth but drilling efforts have now shifted to the Hambok deposit to support 2013 work requirements on the Mogoraib exploration license.
Complete assay results received to-date from 2011, 2012 and 2013 drilling are included at the end of the release. Results from holes NWDD-129 - NWDD-201 are still outstanding but will be included in the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate.
Mineralization at the Northwest Zone is complex with a series of massive sulphide lenses hosted within altered felsic volcanic rocks. Both the footwall and hangingwall contain copper and zinc-rich stringer sulphide mineralization. Synvolcanic faulting and slumping associated with rhyolite cryptodomes and post volcanic faulting associated with regional deformation add complexity. The massive sulphides have been exposed to weathering at surface, oxide zones have been developed that are locally enriched in gold and beneath these areas, supergene copper mineralization may also be present. Core recovery is often poor in these zones as unconsolidated material is easily washed away and not recovered during the diamond drilling process. A program of RC drilling will be completed in these areas to better define the oxide gold potential.
The mineralized system at the Northwest Zone is extensive and resource expansion opportunities remain to the north, south and at depth. Further drilling is planned for the second half of 2013 to assess this potential. In addition, to the east there is a parallel zone of massive sulphide that is only defined by limited drilling. Further drilling on this new zone is also anticipated later in 2013.
Work for a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate at the Northwest Zone is in progress. This work in conjunction with an economic assessment of the impact of the Northwest Zone is expected to be included in a Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimate update for the entire BMSC operation anticipated for early 2014.
The Northwest Zone was discovered in 2003 by the diamond drilling of an airborne EM anomaly and follow-up ground geophysics, soil sampling and drilling from 2004 to 2006 defined a 600 meter long zone of massive and stringer sulphide mineralization. Further work was deferred from 2007 to 2010 while the Bisha deposit was being prepared for mining. A program of in-fill drilling was started in late 2011 designed to fully delineate the open-pit potential of this Zone. This drill program has now been completed.
Quality Assurance
A Quality Assurance/Quality Control program was part of the sampling program for the Northwest Zone work. This program includes a chain of custody whereby drill core samples are initially crushed and subsampled at the Bisha Mine preparation facilities before being transported to Asmara, sealed, and sent on to the laboratories of ALS Limited in Vancouver. ALS is accredited by the Standards Council of Canada. Multi-element analysis is completed using ICP-AES methods; gold is analyzed by fire assay with AAS finish. Certified reference material (standards), duplicates and blank samples are systematically inserted into the flow of core samples and results analyzed on a batch by batch basis.
Hole collars are surveyed using differential GPS; down hole survey was originally completed using the Reflex EZ shot method, now superseded with downhole gyro methods.
Mr. Paul Gribble C.Eng., FIMMM, BMSC's Chief Resource Geologist has been overseeing the drilling and resource work at the Northwest Zone and is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Gribble has reviewed the technical content of this press release and approved its dissemination.
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 and are inherently uncertain, and 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 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, lenders, 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; or (ix) the Company incurs unanticipated costs as a result of the transition from the oxide phase of the Bisha mining operations to the copper phase in 2013; (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 Management Discussion and Analysis for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, 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.
Please see the Company's Annual Information Form for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, and the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2012, for a more complete discussion of the risk factors associated with our business.
Note to U.S. Investors
This news release uses the terms "reserves" and "resources" and derivations thereof. These terms have the meanings set forth in Canadian National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum's Classification System (CIM Standards). NI 43-101 and CIM Standards differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). Under SEC Industry Guide 7, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that is "part of a mineral deposit which could be economically and legally extracted or produced at the time of the reserve determination". In addition, the term "resource", which does not equate to the term "reserve", is not recognized by the SEC and the SEC's disclosure standards normally do not permit the inclusion of information concerning resources in documents filed with the
SEC, unless such information is required to be disclosed by the law of the Company's jurisdiction of incorporation or of a jurisdiction in which its securities are traded. Accordingly, information concerning descriptions of mineralization and resources contained in this news release may not be comparable to information made public by US domestic companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC.
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 commenced commercial gold production in February 2011 and is scheduled to transition to copper/gold production in mid-2013. Management expects the Bisha Mine will rank as one of the highest grade open pit base metal deposits in the world.
NEVSUN RESOURCES LTD.
Cliff T. Davis
President & Chief Executive Officer
For further information, Contact:
Kin Communications
Tel: 604 684 6730
Toll free: 1 866 684 6730
Email: NSU_at_kincommunications.com
Website: www.nevsun.com
For Drilling Results From Northwest Zone Near Bisha Mine visit:
http://www.nevsun.com/news/2013/may23/
http://www.stockhouse.com/news/canadianreleasesdetail.aspx?n=8863076
To view the map accompanying this press release please click on the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/NSU0523.pdf
Received on Thu May 23 2013 - 10:59:27 EDT
