By Nevsun,
NEVSUN Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU) (NYSE MKT:NSU) (Nevsun or the Company) is pleased to announce assay results from a new massive sulphide discovery at the grassroots Asheli prospect on the Mogoraib River Exploration License located 20 kilometers southwest of the Bisha processing plant.
The Asheli drilling is part of the 2015 Bisha regional exploration program which builds on the highly successful 2014 program.
Nevsun CEO Cliff Davis commented,
“We continue to have excellent results from our exploration programs at Bisha. The assays reported today demonstrate that the Bisha District hosts numerous deposits like other classic volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) camps worldwide. Our new greenfield discovery at Asheli is exciting in that it shows that the mineralizing systems on the Asheli trend are capable of producing high grade deposits with good thicknesses of massive sulphide. With over 4 kilometers of untested strike length with similar geology the potential for further discoveries on this trend looks very promising”.
ASHELI PROSPECT
The Asheli area was targeted for the initial drill testing of the over 5 kilometer long Asheli Trend which is characterized by an extensive highly siliceous felsic fragmental unit that has numerous geophysical (airborne VTEM and ground Transient EM (TEM)) anomalies associated with it. A previous operator of the project had drilled 10 short holes at Asheli targeting surface gossans that contained anomalous gold values (ASD-series of holes). These drill holes did not intersect any massive sulphide mineralization but did encounter narrow zones with minor chalcopyrite and sphalerite stringers. Bisha Mining Share Company (BMSC) re-evaluated the area by field mapping and completing a lithogeochemical analysis of the volcanic rocks. This work defined a 700 meter long zone of highly sericite and chlorite altered felsic volcanic stratigraphy associated with gossan zones enhancing the probability that a VMS deposit was likely to be found in the area.
Hole MX-044 drilled immediately below historical holes ASD-001 and ASD-003 which had tested a surface gold bearing gossan intersected the first indications of a new massive sulphide deposit. MX-044 returned 8.30 meters of massive sulphide grading 1.44% Cu, 4.00% Zn, 0.37 g/t Au, 27 g/t Ag. Follow-up drilling in hole MX-052 confirmed the new discovery with 22.90 meters of massive sulphide grading 2.29% Cu, 4.50% Zn, 0.45 g/t Au, 37 g/t Ag and similar results were encountered in hole MX-056 drilled approximately 100 meters above MX-052. The mineralization is associated with strongly chlorite and sericite altered felsic volcanics.
Chalcopyrite-rich zones in the massive sulphide produce strong borehole TEM responses and these responses are helping to guide the drilling of the deposit by allowing large over 100 meter step-outs in the initial drill evaluation. The zone remains open to expansion in a number of directions.
The Asheli discovery highlights the prospectivity of the Asheli Trend. With only 1 kilometer of the trend drill tested during this first phase of exploration and an additional 4 kilometers that has never been drill tested and having similar geology, the likelihood of further discoveries is high. Rainy season begins in mid-June and will require further work to be paused until later in the year.
HIGHLIGHTS
– New greenfield volcanogenic massive sulphide discovery at Asheli
– High grade massive sulphide intersections include:
– MX-052: 2.29% Cu, 4.50% Zn, 0.45 g/t Au, 37 g/t Ag over 22.9 m
Including 3.67% Cu, 8.04% Zn, 0.68 g/t Au, 50 g/t Ag over 7.4 m and 7.92% Cu, 3.89% Zn, 1.14 g/t Au, 101 g/t Ag over 2.9 m
– MX-056: 1.26% Cu, 6.08% Zn, 0.28 g/t Au, 26 g/t Ag over 20.9 m including 1.71% Cu, 8.51% Zn, 0.37 g/t Au, 35 g/t Ag over 10.9 m
– Deposit is associated with highly altered felsic volcanics and is open to expansion
– Numerous untested geophysical targets along 4 km of similar stratigraphy
