Nevsun starts ore commissioning of combined copper/zinc plant

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX- and NYSE MKT-listed Nevsun Resources, which operates the Bisha mine, in Eritrea, on Monday started ore commissioning of the combined copper and zinc plant, with commercial production of the expanded operation slated before end-September.

The Vancouver-headquartered company advised that it had completed construction of the new zinc flotation plant on time and well under budget, just as the mine exhausted mostly copper-rich supergene ore.

Nevsun advised that the new zinc flotation plant added to the existing copper flotation and that Bisha would continue to produce both copper and zinc for the remaining current nine-year primary reserve life. 

CEO Cliff Davis stated that, while the expanded plant was ramping up, Nevsun would accelerate its sales of direct shipping high-grade gold equivalent ore stockpiles to boost cash flow during 2016.

This Bisha zinc expansion project was expected to average more than 225-million pounds of zinc and 45-million pounds of copper a year and would have surplus capacity to absorb additional feed that might come from satellite deposits without yet defined mineral reserves from Bisha deeps, Harena or Asheli, Nevsun advised.

The company added that some relatively minor fixes might need to be completed over the next few months as the plant was trialled.

The final cost of the zinc expansion project was expected to be less than $80-million, against a budget of $100-million.

Nevsun completed the Bisha zinc expansion just as a metal deficit was opening up in the market for 2016 and 2017.

The closure of major zinc-producing mines such as Century and Lisheen, as well as production cuts owing to low zinc prices, were expected to cause a decrease in 2016 mine production. In 2017, higher prices were expected to bring a large amount of Chinese mine production back online and it was expected that Glencore would also bring production back in 2017.

Nevertheless, deficits of about 500 000 t/y in 2016 and 2017 were still expected to result in a large draw down of stocks.