B2Gold makes record $29 million allocation for grassroots exploration
Canadian miner B2Gold plans to spend a record $29 million on grassroots exploration this year, after spending many years generating targets and searching for 13 opportunities in potential gold regions.
The company, which has a total exploration budget of $65 million for the year, primarily focusing on Mali and other operating mine sites in Namibia and the Philippines, plans to focus its core exploration in several new regions.
The core program includes an allocation of $8 million in Finland for the Central Lapland Joint Venture (JV) with Aurion Resources. B2Gold notes that the westward extension of Rupert Resources’ Ikarri discovery is heading directly into joint venture ground. This trend coincides with drilling at the base of the B2Gold till and the same interpreted structure as defined by airborne geophysics.
Diamond drilling in 2021 confirmed the presence of mineralization on the structure and B2Gold indicates that it is followed this year with 11,600 m expected.
Meanwhile, in Mali, B2Gold says it is expanding the scope of its exploration activities in the Anaconda zone, following the obtaining of the Menankoto permit. The company plans to follow sulphide mineralization at Mamba, Adder and several other targets below saprolite mineralization in 2022.
The miner recently finalized the acquisition of the Bakolobi permit from a local Malian company. The Bakolobi permit is located between the Menankoto permit, to the north, and the Medinandi permit of the Fekola mine, wrapping around the latter to its southwestern end, covering an area of 100 km2.
The acquisition of the Bakolobi permit entails the company holding four contiguous exploration and/or exploitation permits covering 237 km2.
Preliminary planning by B2Gold has demonstrated that a pit located in the Anaconda area could provide saprolite material to be trucked and fed into the Fekola plant, starting in late 2022, increasing the ore treaty and the annual gold production of the Fekola plant.
The company has initiated a Phase 2 scoping study to examine the economics of building a stand-alone plant near the Anaconda region. Until then, saprolite materials will continue to be transported by truck and fed into the Fekola plant.
FIRST QUARTER RESULTS
B2Gold produced 209,365 oz in the first quarter, 5% more than expected, at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1,036/oz. The business generated revenues of $366 million on sales of 195,000 oz, at an average realized price of $1,874/oz.
Net earnings reduced to $81 million, or $0.08 per share, and adjusted net earnings of $65 million, or $0.06 per share.
B2Gold says it expects to hit its full-year guidance of 990,000 oz to 1.05 million ounces, with total AISC forecast between $1,010/oz and $1,050/oz.