CORPORATE PRESENTATION MAY 2015

Copper Production. Disciplined Growth.

TSX & NYSE MKT NSU

Forward Looking Statements This Presentation contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation concerning anticipated developments on the Company's continuing and future operations in Eritrea, the adequacy of the Company’s financial resources and financial projections. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning or the assumptions related to estimates of capital and operating costs, the timing, nature and extent of future copper, zinc and gold production, expanding exploration licenses, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, methodologies and models used to prepare resource and reserve estimates, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the conversion of mineral properties to reserves and resources, the potential to expand resources, reserves and mine life, future exploration budgets, plans, targets and work programs, capital expenditures and objectives, anticipated timing of grant of permits, mining and development plans and activities, construction and production targets and timetables, grades, processing rates, life of mine, net cash flows, metal prices, exchange rates, reclamation costs, results of drill programs, dividend plans and policy, litigation matters, integration or expansion of operations, requirements for additional capital, government regulation of mining operations, environmental risks, political risks and uncertainties, unanticipated reclamation expenses, and other events or conditions that may occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimated," "potential," "possible", "budget" and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results "will," "may," "could" or "should" occur or be achieved. Information concerning the interpretation of drill results and mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates also may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, as such information constitutes a prediction of what mineralization might be found to be present if and when a project is actually developed, and in the case of mineral reserves, such statements reflect the conclusion based on certain assumptions that the mineral deposit can be economically exploited.

Forward-looking statements are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company’s forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made and the Company assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements in the future, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Please see the Company’s Annual Information Form and Management Discussion and Analysis of Nevsun for a more complete discussion of the risk factors associated with our business which have been filed with Canadian securities regulators and are available at www.sedar.com, which have also been filed or submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 40-F or Form 6-K and are available at www.sec.gov .

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Results driven producer Highly profitable and poised for growth

Low cash cost copper production in 2015

160 -175 million lbs copper in concentrate

C1 cash costs $1.20 to $1.40 per pound1

Robust balance sheet to support growth

≈ $443M USD in cash with no debt

$517M USD in working capital

$0.16 annualized dividend.

≈$100M returned to shareholders since 2011

Growth through exploration & acquisition

Management track record of success

1 As defined by Brook Hunt - see MD&A. All currency in USD unless noted otherwise

D e l i v e r e d 2 0 1 4 R e s u l t s

3

Cu Produced C1 Cost / lb1

Guidance 180 – 200 Mlb Lowest quartile

Actual 196 Mlb $1.05

Q1Q2

Q3Q4

8¢

15¢

13¢

11¢ $462

$498

$519 $520

EPS Working Capital

✓ ✓

4

Maximize value of

Bisha resources

Grow through district

exploration

Diversify through

merger or acquisition

Our Strategy Copper and Zinc Production, Disciplined Growth

A R E S P O N S I B L E A N D S A F E O P E R A T O R

Sustain Dividend

US$0.16 annualized

Capital and operating delivery Built and expanded Bisha on-time and

under budget Deployed over $350 million in capital Operated Bisha 4 years, delivering strong

earnings and cash flow

Exploration success 8 years discovery to production at Bisha

Resource Growth from 2014 drilling

Further Exploration Drilling in 2015

Current resources (effective date Dec 31, 2014) detailed in news release dated Feb 3 2015 Current reserves (effective date Dec 31, 2013) detailed in news release dated Feb 18 2014 and the supporting 43-101 report 5

Track record of success Managing and delivering results

Depletion

Reserve

Reserve

0

5

10

15

Startup Dec 2014

Mine Life, years

B I S H A R E S E R V E L I F E +50%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Feasibility Jan 2011 Jul 2012 Dec 2013 Dec 2014

Inferred M&I ResourcesMt

B I S H A D I S T R I C T R E S O U R C E S +65%

6

Operations High grade, modern infrastructure, and exploration potential

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 20257

Copper Equivalent Payable Production* Copper Zinc Gold Silver

* Dec 31, 2013 43-101 Technical Report 2015-2025 - Cu $2.90/lb, Zn $0.92/lb, Au $1175/oz and Ag $20/oz. Ownership 60% Nevsun and 40% ENAMCO

Copper 640 million lbs

Zinc 1.7 billion lbs

Gold 260,000 oz

Silver 9.3 million oz

LOM Payable Metals*

mm lbs

48%

8% 5%

39%

NSR Revenue

Diversified production for 10+ years Life of mine over 1.3 billion pounds of payable copper equivalent*

Open at Depth 1200 m

475

m

Bisha Main Open Pit

NO

RTH

High-grade copper and zinc Combined Bisha & Harena Reserves (Effective December 31, 2014)

Zone Tonnage Copper Zinc Gold Silver Supergene 3,500 kt 3.68 % 0.60 g/t 23 g/t

Primary 21,600 kt 1.08 % 5.66 % 0.70 g/t 45 g/t

25.3Mt Reserves Based on $2.90/lb Copper, $1.00/lb Zinc, $1160/oz Gold and $18.50/oz Silver

Notes All primary reserves probable category. Supergene is proven

and probable. Qualified person for mineral reserves is Anoush Ebrahami,

Ph.D. at SRK Consulting. Please refer to the 2014 AIF for detailed assumptions

pertaining to the above reserve estimate Total includes small oxide reserve to be processed at end of

mine life.

8

M&I Resource – Underground

Potential

9

Bisha Process Plant

South Bisha Pit North Bisha Pit

Power Plant

Filtration & Concentrate Loadout

Future Zinc Flotation

Copper Flotation

Gold Plant

Mills

9

Workshops

Crusher

Crushed Ore Stockpile

Offices

Fuel Depot

HME Shops

Tailings Facility

Water Ponds

Independence 1993

Politics Single party state

Capital Asmara

Population 6 million (2013 est.)

Culture 50% Islamic / 50% Christian

Currency (Nakfa) Pegged to USD

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Established in 1998 Nevsun has been working in Eritrea for 17 years

Strong government support Committed to mining industry, has contributed capital, and honored all commitments

Stable taxation and mining regulation for over 20 years

Productive, bilingual, local workforce

Bisha Mine

E R I T R E A

Asmara

To Europe

To Asia

Port of Massawa

ERITREA

Copper Concentrate trucked to Massawa (340 km) for bulk export

Bisha Mine in Eritrea

Modern infrastructure

Power – remotely generated diesel power

Water – bountiful permitted groundwater supply

Roads – simple logistics with high-quality roads and trucking contractor

Port – nearby, modern, state-of-the-art loading

Shipping – via major world trade route

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Rotainer system installed at Massawa Port meets both the needs for copper concentrate export while setting high environmental standards for mining operations in Eritrea

Zinc expansion project on-track Zinc production starting in 2016

New Zn Con. Thickening

New Zn Flotation

New Zn Con. Storage

S C O P E O F E X P A N S I O N P R O J E C T

> 3.4 billion lbs of Zn contained in M&I resources Currently scoping potential mine-life extensions

> 1.7 billion lbs of Zn payable in P&P reserves $92 million to add zinc flotation, storage and shipping capacity Committed ≈ $63 million. Spent ≈$31 million [Mar 31, 2015]

On-time and budget

300kt supply gap in 2016 and growing in future years Closure of large zinc mines (Brunswick, etc.) cutting 10% of

supply since 2014

Lack of new projects and exploration investment

Source: Metalgesellschaft, Wood Mackenzie and Glencore estimates – Sept 2014 13

Zinc Supply Gap

Existing production and projects under construction

(includes Bisha)

Mine life extensions

Probable projects

F U T U R E Z I N C M I N E P R O D U C T I O N V S S U P P L Y ( M T C O N T A I N E D Z N )

Zinc supply gap going forward Bisha zinc appears well timed with startup in mid-2016

BISHA ZINC

STARTUP

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Generating sustainable prosperity

Corporate Social Responsibility is central to Nevsun’s business

Prioritization of hiring locals – 89% of the workforce ≈ 1,230 strong Training, training, training Excellent safety record – zero lost time injuries for over three years Independent human rights assessment in 2014

See 2014 CSR Report for more details

Data as at December 31, 2014

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Bisha District Exploration TSX: NSU | NYSE MKT: NSU

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

De

po

sit S

ize

– m

illio

n t

on

ne

s *

Potential to increase VMS district tonnage through Extending current deposits at depth and on-strike Adding new district deposits; only 4 to-date

16 Number of Deposits in District

Bisha Only 58Mt to date

Noranda District

>200Mt Flin Flon District

>180Mt

5 km Scale VMS District Size

Only 4 Bisha deposits

Flin Flon District

18 deposits Noranda District

25 deposits

District Mine

V M S D I S T R I C T D E P O S I T D I S T R I B U T I O N

Deposit & district growth potential Strategic license position in Bisha District

* Total MI&I resources (current plus mined) for district deposits Source: Company data.

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NW Zone

Bisha Main

Harena

Hambok

Aderat

Takewuda

17

Map scale is approximate

Bisha VMS district exploration 2014 exploration success 27,000m drilling High grade depth extension at

Harena significantly increased resources

New discovery at Aderat

Camp

NORTH

Favourable Horizon

Felsic Volcanic

Exploration Targets

Bisha Licenses

Current Resource

Plant

Ashelli Mogoraib River License

2015 exploration plans 25,000m drilling budgeted Infill and step-outs at Harena Bisha Main extension and on-strike Underground scoping Bisha &Harena Greenfield targets on Mogoraib River

License – Ashelli and Takewuda

For summary of 2014 Harena results see December 17, 2014 news release and recent 2015 results April 27, 2015. Harena resource statement (red in figure) is described in the 2014 Annual Information Form (AIF)

Currently drilling resource extension targets defined in 2014

Down-hole geophysics indicates extensions of 2014 resource probable

First results extended high grade mineralization in upper and lower massive sulphide zones

Additional high grade gold zone in stringers

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Harena extension drilling

HX-050: 1.7% Cu, 6.6% Zn, 0.4g/t Au, 28g/t Ag over 67m including

4.6% Cu, 3.4% Zn, 1.0g/t Au, 63g/t Ag over 22m, and

0.2% Cu, 8.2% Zn, 0.1g/t Au, 10g/t Ag over 45m

HX-051: 1.1% Cu, 3.6% Zn, 0.4g/t Au, 22g/t Ag over 74m including

4.2% Cu, 1.2% Zn, 1.0g/t Au, 62g/t Ag over 11m

Harena Pit

HX-051

HX-047 HX-043

HX-039

HX-049

HX-050 Core of Strong Mineralization

HX-044

Harena extension drilling cont’d

Lower zone massive sulphide extended with Hole HX-050 and HX-051

Extends lower zone mineralization 120m down plunge, beyond current resource

Increasing grade and widening Open at depth

For Section A-A and detailed results see new release dated April 27, 2015.

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Corporate Overview TSX: NSU | NYSE MKT: NSU

Management Cliff Davis, CEO

Tom Whelan, CFO

Frazer Bourchier, COO

Joe Giuffre, CLO

Scott Trebilcock, CDO

Peter Hardie, VP Finance

Peter Manojlovic, VP Exploration

Todd Romaine, VP CSR

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Strong Bisha Management Team

37% of our on-site senior management are Eritrean

Directors R. Stuart Angus, Chairman

Ian Ashby Cliff Davis Robert Gayton Gary German Gerard Munera

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Analyst Coverage BA-Merrill Lynch

Canaccord Capital

CIBC

Cormark

Dundee

Haywood Securities Inc.

Paradigm Capital

Raymond James

RBC Capital Markets

Scotia Capital

TD Securities

UBS

As at March 31, 2015

Shares Outstanding 199.7M

Fully Diluted 211.7M

Average Daily Volume >1M

Price at April 30, 2015 C$4.76

Market Cap at April 30, 2015 ≈C$950M

Share Structure

Significant Share Holders Blackrock ≈ 19%

Vanguard 19%

Franklin Templeton

Geologic

Consensus Target: C$5.381

1. Per Company data as at March 31, 2015

Strong holders & broad coverage

I N V E S T O R R E L A T I O N S

T E L : +1 604-684-6730 T O L L F R E E : 1-866-684-6730 E M A I L : NSU@kincommunications.com W E B : www.nevsun.com

Thank You. TSX: NSU | NYSE MKT: NSU

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