TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Vancouver-based gold miner Nevsun Resources on Tuesday said the 42 000 oz of gold it had produced at its flagship Bisha mine, in Eritrea, was in line with expectations as it was preparing to switch from processing gold-bearing oxides to copper ore by mid year.
The company expected to produce between 80 000 oz and 90 000 oz of gold in the first half of the year.
Waste mined in the quarter totalled 1.92-million tons for a strip ratio of 5.1:1. Despite a two-week mill shutdown for mill re-lining and readying for the copper transition later this year, the company milled 432 000 tons of ore.
The average head grade at the mill was 4.14 g/t and recoveries were at 79%.
The company’s Toronto-listed shares rose 4% to close ay C$3.88 apiece on Tuesday.