Nevsun’s Bisha turns a profit despite falling prices, rising costs

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Eritrea-focused miner Nevsun Resources has posted a profit for the three months to September 30, despite lower grades, recoveries and sliding copper prices and despite a 95% year-on-year contraction in net earnings.

Net income attributable to shareholders shrunk from $25.5-million in the comparable quarter of 2014, to $2.8-million, or $0.01 a share, in the three months under review.

Revenue fell 53% year-on-year to $70-million, owing to a 31% decline in the copper price to $2.05/lb in the period.

The low-cost Bisha mine recorded C1 cash costs of $1.56/lb for the quarter. This was a 46% rise year-on-year rise.

Nevsun said the copper feed grade fell 40% year-on-year to 3.8% copper, compounded by recoveries decreasing from 85.5% to 79.6%.

Concentrate output accordingly fell 42% over the comparable quarter last year, to 32.5-million pounds of copper, with sales down 38% to 30.8-million pounds of copper in concentrate.

Despite this, Nevsun advised that it remained on track to achieve its yearly target of 140-million to 150-million pounds at cash costs of between $1.20/lb and $1.40/lb.

Headquartered in Vancouver, Nevsun owned 60% of the Bisha copper mine, where it also produced gold and silver by-products, with plans to also start producing zinc.

The mine cost $250-million to build and produced only gold and silver until 2013, when a $110-million copper expansion was completed. During mid-2016, the mine was expected to expand to also produce zinc.