http://www.miningweekly.com/article/for-gold-miner-nevsun-fortunes-swing-again-2012-05-09
By: Matthew Hill
9th May 2012
Updated 2 hours 28 minutes ago
TEXT SIZE
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Shareholders in Vancouver-based Nevsun Resources, more than 50% down since February, got some respite on Wednesday, when the Eritrea-focused gold miner raised its 2012 production guidance by around 25% to between 240 000 oz to 260 000 oz.
The Toronto-listed company had earlier this year slashed its previous forecast for the year by more than half to 190 000 oz to 210 000 oz, after it overestimated parts of reserves at its Bisha mine.
Nevsun said “unusually high” grades it encountered in April, and expects to last at least until June, were behind the hike in output guidance.
The juicier grades came with a caveat, though. The company detailed they were in a portion of the oxide zone occurring between the copper and gold supergene orebodies, which, in simple terms, is difficult to process.
Investors rewarded Nevsun’s increased production expectations by pushing its share price up by nearly 5% in early Toronto trade to C$3.39, on a morning when the broader market was down for its sixth consecutive session.
The gold producer said revenues were $149.4-million for the three months to March 31, from the sale of 83 100 oz of gold.
Net earnings came in at $41,2-million for the period, compared with $11,8-million in the first three months of 2011, when its only producing asset, Bisha, began commercial output in late February.
The company reported a $78.3-million profit for the December quarter.
Nevsun said it would announce a revised mineral resource and reserve estimate for the entire Bisha and Harena deposits early in the third quarter.
Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter
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Received on Wed May 09 2012 - 14:41:17 EDT
