TORONTO (March 4, 2011) – One of the three rescue capsules built to rescue 33 Chilean miners trapped underground last year will be on public display at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s International Convention, Trade Show and Investors Exchange, to be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (south building) from Sunday, March 6 to Wednesday, March 9.

The 21-inch wide, bullet-shaped capsule, called Phoenix 1, will be standing tall and proud on the ceremonial floor of the convention centre and will be a fascinating reminder of the remarkable rescue that kept a billion people around the world riveted to television screens and internet monitors last October as, one by one, the miners were brought to safety.

They had spent a record 69 days underground. This is the first time that any of the three capsules has been on display in North America.

The PDAC will pay tribute to the team responsible for the rescue, believed to have been the deepest ever at 700 metres, by presenting a special achievement award to its leader, Laurence Golborne, Chile’s Minister of Mining, at an awards ceremony on Monday, March 7 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

Minister Golborne will be heading a large Chilean delegation attending this year’s convention, which attracts people and companies involved in mineral exploration from all over the world. A record attendance of more than 22,000 is anticipated.

About the PDAC:

The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) is a national association representing the mineral exploration and development industry. Its 7,000 individual and corporate members are involved in the exploration, discovery and development of new mines and new wealth. The association’s convention is the world’s largest annual gathering of the mineral industry. PDAC Convention 2011 will be held March 6-9 in Toronto.

Nevsun Resources Ltd and South Boulder Mines Ltd will be presenting at the annual International Convention and Trade Show of Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) in Toronto.

Both companies have promising mining projects in the Red Sea State of Eritrea. Nevsun has just announced that its Bisha mine has reached commercial production in February 2011 and South Boulder Mines spectacular share price surge seems not to be running out of fuel due to the huge potential investors see in potash and Eritrea.

PDAC is one of the most important investment trade events in the world of exploration. With over 22,000 industry representatives and delegates from over 118 countries the trade show hosts 400 exhibitors promoting mining industry services, products technology and jurisdictions.

The convention is known to be attended by many company representatives seeking out for the right investment and trade deal as well as Geoscientists, Mining media, Mining service sector representatives, International government representative and other industry stake holders.

Other exhibitors from secondary industries include Air Transportation Services, Insurance Companies, Internet Services, Labatories/Labatory Suppliers, Law Firms, Software Companies, Satellite Communications, Universities and more.

Nevsun Resources will be presenting on Monday, March 7 at 11:00 am in Room 801B in the Volcanogenic Massive Sulphides Session and exhibiting at booth 2608A on March 7 and 8 at the Investor Exchange floor.

South Boulder Mines Managing Director Lorry Hughes will be presenting on Tuesday, March 8 at 10:50 am in Room 715 AB, in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building.

PDAC

Analyst and Chief Commentator Peter Grandich from Agoracom was invited to comment on small cap mining stocks by BNN Market Call during the PDAC 2010 Mining Conference in Toronto.

He said the market is overreacting and the share price of mining companies in Eritrea is undervalued as a consequence of negative media coverage.

This overshadows some of the progress being made by mining companies such as Sunridge Gold and Nevsun Resources in Eritrea.

Nevsun, for instance, has completed its non-brokered private placement financing and is planning to go into production in late 2010 despite all the dramatic ups and downs in recent years.

Grandich believes that the worst of the bad news is behind them and that better days lie ahead, unless further tidal waves of bad press will continue to dominate the media.

He says that the UN has adopted sanctions not against the country as a whole, but against certain politicians and the military in Eritrea. He will update his rating on Nevsun and Sunridge Gold later this month after the UN has announced its decision, whether it is going to continue, increase or remove the sanctions on Eritrea.

“If Sunridge’s projects would be somewhere else in the world it probably would be three to four times the price of today.

Its being penalized for being there, but if you are a believer like me eventually things will get better and they should be doing well in the long run,” says Grandich.

When he was asked to rate Eritrea on a risk scale against other places in the world he replied,

“You have to put it to the most riskiest when the UN has brought sanctions against them, but the good thing is the likelyhood of things getting better is high as things cannot get much worse.”

Experts believe the fact that Nevsun Resources managed to solve the question of financing will remove most of the fears that came from the UN sanctions against Eritrea.

Watch the episode on http://watch.bnn.ca/market-call/march-2010/market-call-march-9-2010/#clip274281