Nevsun's 2014 Corporate Social Responsibility Report

Eritrean miners at the Bisha plant

About This Report

The purpose of this Nevsun Corporate Social Responsibility Report is to demonstrate our commitment to provide an ongoing, transparent, and assembled account of our sustainable economic, social, and environmental practices and performance. Reference to Nevsun or the Company in this Report means, collectively, Nevsun Resources Ltd. and all of its wholly and majority owned direct and indirect subsidiaries.

Our 2014 Corporate Social Responsibility Report covers the calendar year ended December 31, 2014,
the fourth full year of mining operations at the Company’s 60% owned Bisha Mine in Eritrea. There were no corporate entity changes in operations during the reporting period and therefore there were no impacts to content or scope comparability from 2013 to 2014.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines were used in the preparation
of this Report. The Report also followed the indicator guidance contained within the G4 Implementation Manual, and the Mining and Metals Sector Supplement, and is in accordance with the ‘Core’ criteria option of the fourth generation (G4) Framework. The Report also includes 12 ‘comprehensive’ General Standard
Disclosures relating to governance and sustainability stewardship. The G4 Content Index located on pages 47-52 provides the general standard disclosures and specific standard disclosures (performance indicators) found in this Report and their respective locations.

Independent third party assurance was not sought for the 2014 CSR Report, however the content was prepared and reviewed by management for accuracy and consistency with data collection methods, corporate policies, and protocols. All narrative information and performance data regarding human rights were assessed and reviewed by an independent third party in respect of the Bisha Mine Human Rights Impact Assessment (See Human Rights on page 15 and Human Rights Case Study on page 16). While we
made every effort to ensure internal data verification and quality control regarding the contents of this Report, all non-financial performance figures and economic indicator calculations are unaudited.

Defining Report Content -Material Issues 

Our CSR Report identifies and discusses sustainability topics that are most important to the Company’s stakeholders. The context and priority of each focus area contains an explanation as to why each material aspect is relevant and how it impacts our business and the perceptions of our stakeholders. The work that has been undertaken in managing each focus area is described in this Report, as well as the performance targets that have been set, and the Company’s progress in meeting
these targets.

In order to identify key material issues and define report content for the 2014 reporting period, Nevsun undertook a materiality assessment to identify and assess relevant priority topics in respect of both stakeholder concerns and business impact. Materiality interviews were conducted with a number of Nevsun’s key stakeholder groups including:

• Government of Eritrea
• Our employees
• Our community liaison officers

We also considered issues relevant to Nevsun’s operating environment, integrating ongoing formal and informal feedback from the Bisha Mine, combined with company performance metrics, operational reviews, and risk assessments.

External feedback was derived from ongoing stakeholder engagement with:

• Local communities
• Government of Canada
• Resident Foreign Ambassadors in Eritrea
• United Nations
• Non-government organizations
• Shareholders

We also monitored regulatory and policy trends and developments, as well as media coverage.

Prioritization of material issues was conducted at the senior executive level of Nevsun based on our evaluation of economic, environmental, and social impacts related to operational and sustainability priorities. We also factored in comments received from our CSR reporting feedback survey.We plan to further expand this CSR reporting feedback survey in 2015 by actively seeking out more internal and external stakeholders to make comments and suggestions for improvements to CSR Reporting.

Aspect Boundaries –Where Impacts Occur

Different stakeholders, or groups of stakeholders, may be impacted by each of our material sustainability issues. For each key material aspect, we have described whether the impacts of these topics occur within our organization, or are believed to affect or extend outside the organization to our contractors, local communities, and investors. We have described our aspect boundaries within the narrative of the Report and have also provided aspect boundary coding in the Content Index.

Our material issues have been aligned with the corresponding GRI aspects and are the topics receiving coverage and defining the content in this Report.

In 2015, Nevsun intends to continue to expand the formal reach of internal and external stakeholders
consulted for the materiality assessment to further enhance the diversity of perspective and strengthen the credibility and reliability of the identified and prioritized material aspects forming the Report content.

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Nevsun 2014 CSR Report

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