B2Gold Announces Total Gold Production for Q4 2023 of 288,665 oz; Total Gold Production for 2023 of 1,061,060 oz, Achieving Upper Half of 2023 Guidance; 2024 Guidance, Preliminary 2025 Production Outlook and Gold Prepay Arrangement

23 January 2024

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO, NYSE AMERICAN: BTG, NSX: B2G) (“B2Gold” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce its gold production and gold revenue for the fourth quarter and full year 2023, its gold production and cost guidance for 2024, preliminary 2025 production outlook, and a gold prepayment arrangement. All dollar figures are in United States dollars unless otherwise indicated. Canadian dollars are converted to United States dollars at an exchange rate of 1.35 to 1.

2023 Highlights include

  • Strong quarterly total gold production in Q4 2023: Higher than anticipated total gold production in the fourth quarter of 2023 of 288,665 ounces, including 18,054 ounces of attributable production from Calibre Mining Corp. (“Calibre”).
  • Achieved significant safety milestone of 5 years without a Lost Time Injury at Masbate: On November 17, 2023, the Masbate Mine, located in the Philippines, achieved a major safety milestone, exceeding 32 million hours, 1,826 days, worked without a Lost Time Injury. B2Gold has a longstanding commitment to continuous safety improvement at all of its sites, and its goal of sending everyone home safe at each of its operations and projects.

2024 Guidance and 2025 Preliminary Outlook Highlights [Editor note: We have only included Goose project here]

  • Construction at the Goose Project is progressing on track, with the project remaining on schedule for first gold pour in the first quarter of 2025: Construction continues ahead of schedule within the mill and processing buildings, along with preparatory work for peak construction activities in the second and third quarter of 2024. Mine development is well underway at the Echo Pit and Umwelt Underground mine to generate high-grade stockpiles prior to mill commissioning. Following the successful completion of the 2023 sea lift, the construction of the Winter Ice Road (“WIR”) is well underway and expected to be completed on schedule and fully operational as of the second full week of February 2024, transporting all required materials from the Marine Laydown Area (“MLA”) to the Goose Project site by the end of April 2024.
  • Goose Project construction capital estimate revised to C$1,050 million: After completing a detailed review of the Goose Project design, materials, and construction schedule as part of the 2024 budgeting process, the Company is revising the total construction capital estimate from C$800 million to C$1,050 million. Most of the increase in the construction capital estimate relates to underestimated labour and site operating costs in the feasibility study, along with additional general inflationary impacts on construction materials, consumables and transportation costs. In addition, a detailed review of the project design has identified deficiencies in project components including power generation and distribution, laboratory, piping, and controls and instrumentation, which are being corrected to deliver a reliable operation. As of December 31, 2023, approximately C$715 million total cash has been spent on the Goose Project (by B2Gold and Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. (“Sabina”)). Future construction capital cost variance is expected to be minimal as over half of the construction capital costs to be incurred in 2024 are related to labour in order to bring the project close to commissioning by the end of the year, and all major components have been purchased or are under contract.

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