• Record gold revenue for the quarter of $66.9 million
• Record gold production for the quarter of 38,808 ounces
• Record gold sales for the quarter of 39,557 ounces
• Successful completion of the B2Gold / Auryx Gold Corp.
("Auryx") business combination, acquiring the Otjikoto gold
project in Namibia
• Record gold revenue of $225.4 million
• Record gold production of 144,604 ounces, at the upper
range of guidance
• Operating cash costs expected to be within guidance
• 2011 year end cash position of approximately $100 million -
no hedging and no debt
• Continued to advance all development and exploration
projects
B2Gold achieved record consolidated gold production for La
Libertad and Limon mines in Nicaragua in the fourth quarter
of 2011, producing 38,808 ounces of gold. Total gold
production for 2011 was approximately 144,604 ounces, at the
upper range of guidance.
Total production for 2011 from La Libertad was 99,567 ounces
of gold, exceeding 2011 guidance. In the fourth quarter
26,158 ounces of gold were produced.
The Limon open pit and underground mine recorded its most
successful year in the past seven years, producing 45,037
ounces of gold, within 2011 guidance. Approximately 12,650
ounces of gold were produced in the fourth quarter.
The main reasons for the improved production at the Limon
Mine in 2011 were improved mill throughput and gold
recoveries. The Limon mill averaged just under 1,100 tonnes
of ore per day processing 100,888
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tonnes of ore in the quarter, exceeding planned capacity of 1,000 tonnes per day. Recoveries also improved to 91% compared to budgeted recoveries of 88%.
Production Guidance 2012
B2Gold is projecting another record year for gold production
in 2012, with consolidated production from La Libertad and
Limon Mines in Nicaragua estimated to total approximately
150,000 to 160,000 ounces of gold at a cash operating cost of
approximately $590 to $625 per ounce. The mines are
projecting a total of approximately $140 million in cash from
operations based on a gold price of $1,550 per ounce. B2Gold
has no debt and no gold hedging. Average operating cash costs
have been budgeted to be approximately 10% higher in 2012
compared to 2011 mainly due to a higher strip ratio at La
Libertad and higher consumables and power costs.
Cash operating costs are expected to improve and production
to increase in 2013 over 2012 due to the processing of higher
grade ore from the Jabali deposit through the La Libertad
mill. The Company is projecting gold production to increase
to approximately 185,000 ounces in 2013 and 200,000 ounces
in
2014 (1).
La Libertad Mine
La Libertad Mine is projected to produce approximately
102,000 to 110,000 ounces of gold in 2012 at an operating
cash cost of approximately $550 to $575 per ounce. Cash from
operations at La Libertad Mine is projected at approximately
$100 million (at $1,550 per ounce gold price). Operating cash
costs have increased compared to 2011 due to a higher strip
ratio resulting from accessing higher grade ore from a new
pit called Santa Maria. Power costs and consumables are also
budgeted to increase by approximately
10%. Partially offsetting these higher costs will be an
increase to the average grade milled to 1.77 grams per tonne
("g/t") gold in 2012 compared to 1.72 g/t gold in 2011.
The Company has budgeted capital costs at La Libertad in
2012, totaling approximately $25.6 million. The majority of
this capital cost will be expended on pre-stripping at the
Santa Maria pit and to access future ore by enlarging
existing pits and completing a tailings pond expansion.
Limon Mine
The Limon Mine is projected to produce approximately 48,000
to 50,000 ounces of gold in 2012, an increase from 2011
production of 45,037 ounces of gold. Operating cash costs for
2012 are projected at approximately $700 to $725 per ounce of
gold.
Operating cash costs for 2012 are budgeted to be similar to
2011 despite increasing costs for consumables and power.
After the 2012 underground development work the Company
anticipates mining more material from underground in closer
proximity to the mill which should reduce operating costs.
The Limon mine is budgeted to process 408,000 tonnes of ore
at an average grade of 4.24 g/t gold. Mill throughput
capacity has increased to over 1,100 tonnes of ore per day
due to automation improvements made to the mill in 2011.
In 2012 the Limon Mine is projected to generate approximately
$40 million in cash from operations
(assuming a gold price of $1,550 per ounce).
(1) Subject to final permitting and mine planning of the Jabali deposits
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The Company plans to undertake capital expenditures at the
Limon Mine in 2012 totaling approximately
$19.0 million. The majority of this capital expenditure will
fund a major underground mine development program, surface
mine pre-stripping and tailings pond construction. The
underground development work will access deeper ore at the
Santa Pancha vein, which should add approximately three years
of production. Capital expenditures for 2013 are expected to
be lower as the tailings pond work in 2012 will add
approximately 5 years to its storage capacity.
2012 Development and Exploration
Jabali Deposit Development, La Libertad Property
The 2012 budget for the development of the Jabali deposit is
approximately $23.9 million. This budget will fund the
construction of a 15 km haul road for transporting the Jabali
deposit ore to La Libertad mill, and for engineering,
metallurgical and socio-economic programs. The permitting of
the Jabali deposit is scheduled for completion in the third
quarter and open pit mining is scheduled to commence in the
fourth quarter of 2012.
The current Jabali inferred mineral resource is 3.55 million
tonnes at 4.58 g/t containing 522,000 ounces of gold, which
is considerably higher than the current average grade of 1.7
g/t ore currently being processed at La Libertad. The Company
commenced mining from Jabali in November 2011, delivering
higher grade colluvial material to the Libertad mill. The
Company intends to commence open pit mining from Jabali in
late 2012.
Based on the delivery of higher grade ore from the Jabali
deposit, the Company expects an increase in annual production
at La Libertad to approximately 135,000 ounces of gold in
2013 and, 150,000 ounces of gold by 2014 (subject to final
mine plan).
La Libertad Property Exploration
At Jabali, B2Gold plans to expend $4.0 million to drill 5,500
metres in 2012 to complete infill drilling of the Jabali
Antenna Zone and further explore deposits that are open to
the east and west.
Positive exploration drill results in 2011 resulted in the
Jabali Zones and the Mojon West deposit potentially
increasing in size and confirming the strong continuity of
gold mineralization at Jabali Central and Antenna (see news
releases September 15, 2011 and December 01, 2011). A new
resource estimate for the Jabali Central and Antenna deposits
is due to be released in the second quarter of 2012.
An additional $1 million has been budgeted in 2012 to fund
further drilling to explore the 20 km long La
Libertad gold belt.
Limon Property Exploration
The 2012 exploration budget at the Limon property totals $4.6
million, funding 14,000 metres of drilling to explore
numerous open pit and underground targets on the
property.
B2Gold's exploration team believes there is potential to
increase the current mine life of the Limon Mine and also
discover higher grade open pit and underground deposits that
could potentially increase annual gold production and reduce
operating costs per ounce of gold.
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Otjikoto Project, Namabia
B2Gold successfully completed the business combination with
Auryx in December 2011 whereby
B2Gold acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of
Auryx.
Auryx Gold Namibia (Pty) Ltd. ("Auryx Gold Namibia") (now a
subsidiary of B2Gold) owns a 92% interest in the Otjikoto
gold project in Namibia, Africa and a 100% interest in two
additional exploration projects in Namibia. The Otjikoto gold
project has forecast average annual production of over
100,000 ounces of gold over a ten year mine life based on a
Preliminary Economic Assessment released by Auryx in
September 2011. Auryx's Otjikoto project hosts a
National Instrument ("NI") 43-101 compliant indicated
resource of 25 million tonnes grading 1.44 g/t gold for 1.2
million ounces of gold. Otjikoto also hosts a NI 43-101
compliant inferred resource of 16 million tonnes grading 1.31
g/t gold for 0.7 million ounces of gold.
The Otjikoto gold project is located 300 km north of
Namibia's capital city of Windhoek. The project benefits
significantly from Namibia's well established infrastructure
with paved highways, a railway, power grids, and process
water all close by. Located in the western part of southern
Africa, Namibia is one of the continent's most politically
and socially stable jurisdictions.
B2Gold, along with Auryx Gold Namibia's experienced staff, is
well placed to advance development at the Otjikoto gold
project given B2Gold's strong funding capacity and a
management team with significant mine development and
operating experience.
The B2Gold Board has approved an aggressive 2012 feasibility
and development budget of $34.6 million to complete a
feasibility study in the fourth quarter of 2012 and
concurrently commence planning for mine construction at the
Otjikoto gold project. Feasibility work will include
additional metallurgical drilling and test work, power
studies and geohydrology.
Included in the budget are costs for site preparation work
and construction of a camp at site. The budget also contains
$5 million for cash deposits associated with orders for long
lead time items with a goal of commencing mining operations
in 2014.
A further $8.9 million has been budgeted in 2012 for
exploration of which $4.3 million relates to 16,150 metres of
feasibility study drilling. Another 2,500 metres of drilling
will be carried out to explore beyond the current resource at
the Otjikoto gold project. Regional exploration work will
also be conducted on the surrounding area. A new resource
estimate for the Otjikoto gold project is due to be released
in the first quarter of 2012. The Company's geology team
believes there is significant exploration upside at the
Otjikoto gold project.
Gramalote Property, Colombia
The Gramalote property is located 80 km northeast of Medellin in central Colombia, with AngloGold Ashanti Limited ("AngloGold Ashanti") as manager and has excellent access and infrastructure. The project is a 49%-51% B2Gold-AngloGold Ashanti joint venture, and has a 2012 joint venture prefeasibility and exploration budget of $36.9 million (100%). This budget will fund 21,700 metres of diamond drilling for the exploration of additional targets on the property, and infill drilling. In addition, the budget will fund prefeasibility work including additional environmental studies, metallurgical test work and engineering. Each joint venture partner will fund their share of expenditures pro rata. A prefeasibility study is scheduled to be completed in June 2012 and a final feasibility study is planned for the fourth quarter of 2013.
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The companies had a 2011 exploration and feasibility budget for Gramalote of $37.6 million. Highlights from the 2011 prefeasibility and exploration work on the Gramalote property include positive metallurgical test results showing in excess of 90% recovery and encouraging drill results from Gramalote and outside targets indicating the potential for a larger resource. The Company expects to release an updated resource calculation in the first quarter of 2012.
Cebollati Property, Uruguay
The Cebollati property covers a belt of 50 km long by 10 to
15 km wide located 180 km by good paved road from the capital
city of Montevideo. B2Gold has an option to earn an 80%
interest in the Cebollati property by funding exploration
work through to feasibility.
The 2012 exploration program for the Cebollati project has a
budget of $3.4 million which includes approximately 4,000
metres of drilling. The drilling program will continue on the
Southern and Windmill zones following the successful 2011
exploration drilling program that confirmed the presence of
significant gold bearing replacement style mineralization
within multiple zones (see news release dated September 16,
2011). In addition, the 2012 exploration will continue on
regional evaluation and project generation work. The Company
intends to release further exploration results from the 2011
drilling program shortly.
Radius Gold ("Radius") Joint Venture - Trebol, Pavon and San Jose Properties, Nicaragua
B2Gold has the right to earn a 60% interest from joint venture partner Radius in the Trebol, Pavon and San Jose properties located in northeastern Nicaragua. The 2012 exploration program budget for the Radius joint venture of $4.0 million is to fund 5,000 metres of drilling on the Trebol, San Jose and Pavon targets located along the 6 km northeast trending belt of continuously mineralzed volcanic rock.
B2Gold / Calibre Mining Corp. ("Calibre") Joint Venture - Borosi Concessions, Nicaragua
B2Gold and Calibre recently announced drill results that
discovered significant porphyry style gold and copper
mineralization at the Primavera project within the Borosi
concessions in north east Nicaragua (see news release dated
January 20, 2012).
Assay results from the first three holes totaling 667.85
metres drilled in December 2011 have confirmed the presence
of wide spread gold and copper values similar to those
previously reported from surface trenching (see Calibre press
release dated November 28, 2011). The drilling and trenching
has thus far only tested approximately 250 metres of strike
length within the original gold-copper soil anomaly of over
800 metres in length by 300 metres wide. The mineralization
at Primavera is open in all directions. The results received
are consistent with "porphyry style" mineralization within
volcanic and intrusive rocks
Drilling has resumed with the deepening of the third hole
which was not completed due to the holiday break. A total of
2,000 metres of diamond drilling totaling $1.5 million is
planned in the next few months to define the extent of the
porphyry system. Several other gold-copper anomalies
identified on the Primavera concession remain untested and
will be evaluated over the coming months.
B2Gold remains in a strong financial position with approximately $100 million in cash at the end of 2011. The Company is projecting cash from mining operations to generate approximately $140 million in 2012 (based on a $1,550 average gold price). This strong financial position will allow the Company to continue
5
to advance its development and exploration projects and fund
all capital requirements in 2012, while retaining a strong
cash position.
Tom Garagan, Senior Vice President of Exploration, is a
Qualified Person for B2Gold Corp. as defined by National
Instrument 43-101.
"Clive T. Johnson"
President and Chief Executive OfficerFor more information on
B2Gold please visit the Company web site at
www.b2gold.com or contact: Ian MacLean Kerry
Suffolk
Vice President, Investor Relations Manager, Investor
Relations
604-681-8371 604-681-8371
The Toronto Stock Exchange neither approves nor disapproves the information contained in this News Release.
The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of
1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.
Some of the statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements, such as estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
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