Published: September 26, 2023 |

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B2Gold Corp. has released a construction update on the Goose Project, located in the 100 percent owned Back River Gold District in Nunavut, Canada. B2Gold acquired the Back River Gold District as part of the acquisition of Sabina Gold & Silver in April 2023.

GOOSE PROJECT UPDATES

• Goose Project on schedule for first gold pour in Q1 2025:
All long lead items for the 2024 construction season have been received at B2Gold’s freight consolidation points, prepped for ship transport and currently the 2023 sealift is underway, which includes delivery of 24 million liters of diesel fuel.

• Construction capital expenditures remain in line with June 2023 estimate of C$800 million:
The updated construction capital expenditure by B2Gold of C$800 million, plus an additional C$90 million for accelerating underground development, remains in line with B2Gold’s last estimate as of June 2023. To date, capital expenditures are in line with the company’s expectations, with approximately C$530 million total cash spent on the project to date.

• Accelerated underground mining plan adopted to increase average gold production in the first five years to over
  300,000 ounces per year:
Underground development at the Umwelt deposit and open pit mining at the Echo deposit is progressing. The Echo open pit is scheduled to be mined out and stockpiled prior to process plant commissioning in order to provide tailings storage capacity.

• Concrete and steel work in the mill area progressing ahead of schedule:
Erection of structural steel has commenced, with building cladding to begin shortly. The company expects the ball mill to be set in place in December 2023, ahead of schedule, which significantly de-risks the construction schedule for mill completion and first gold pour in Q1 2025.

• Phase 1 of the accommodation complex opened in July 2023:
Phase 1 of the accommodation complex includes 310 beds at the permanent site location, which together with the 160 beds located at the existing exploration camp, provide the necessary accommodation to support accelerated construction, mining and exploration activities.

• Earthworks necessary to extend airstrip to be completed in September 2023:
Planned extension of the airstrip to 5,000 feet will allow large capacity, fully loaded passenger planes to land at the Goose Project during the 2024 construction campaign.

• Winter ice road preparations are well underway:
The request for proposal process has closed for the selection of the winter ice road constructor and a decision is expected to be made before the end of September. The contractor will be managed by B2Gold’s experienced ice road construction team. The execution strategy for the 2024 ice road season involves an earlier start to the road construction than previous years, which contributes to de-risking the trucking season. In addition, the ice road construction will begin from the middle and work outwards in each direction, which should enable the ice road to be completed earlier than in prior seasons.

• 11,000 meters of drilling over 44 drill holes has been completed to date in 2023 at Back River:
The drill program at the Goose Project has focused on testing the Umwelt and Llama deposits down-plunge for resource confirmation and resource expansion, as well as various regional targets. The drill program is anticipated to run through December 2023.

GOOSE PROJECT CAPITAL EXPENDITURES

On June 23, 2023, the company made an initial construction capital expenditure estimate of C$800 million, which was in line with B2Gold expectations since the Sabina acquisition and reflects scope changes to further optimize the Goose Project as well as industry inflation. B2Gold has updated the construction budget to de-risk the project and construct a reliable and low operating cost mine for the arctic. In addition, the company has made the decision to accelerate underground mining development to increase annual gold production over the first five years of the mine plan, which entails mining of the complete Umwelt crown pillar. The cost to accelerate underground mining is estimated at an additional C$90 million for a total project expenditure of C$890 million.

• Goose Project Infrastructure
The purchasing of materials and supplies needed to support the 2024 construction campaign has been completed and all materials have been provided to the ports for the 2023 sealift. Following the acquisition of Sabina, the Marine Laydown Area (MLA) located on Bathurst Inlet, Nunavut was reorganized to maximize space for the 2023 sealift that is currently underway. Additionally, the fuel tank containment area at the MLA was enlarged to facilitate increased storage. The MLA has an approximately 70 person camp, a 3,000 foot gravel airstrip and heliport, and over 65,000 meters 2 of outdoor storage area.

The 2023 sealift is currently underway with an expected shipping volume of 70,000 meters cubed of dry cargo and 24,000,000 liters of arctic grade diesel fuel. As at August 31, 2023, the MLA has received its first two ships and three barges for off-load as part of the 2023 sealift, with four additional ships en-route carrying materials to the MLA from ports located globally.

• Accommodation Complex
Phase 1 of the accommodation complex opened in July 2023, including sleeping quarters, office area, medical center, gymnasium, kitchens, and water treatment. Phase 1 of the accommodation complex includes 310 beds at the permanent site location, which together with the 160 beds located at the existing exploration camp, provide the necessary accommodations to support accelerated construction, mining and exploration activities to ensure an on-time project completion. Phase 2 of the accommodation complex will further expand the permanent camp. Phase 2 materials have already started to arrive at the MLA and are ready for transport to the Goose Project site and will be integrated into the complex prior to the 2024 summer construction season.

• Concrete and Steel Work
Concrete and steel work in the mill area are progressing ahead of schedule. The first concrete pour was completed in July 2023, with approximately 30 percent of the 2023 concrete foundations and pads complete within the mill area, power house and truck shop as of August 31, 2023. More than 2,000,000 kilograms of structural steel and approximately 500,000 kilograms of plate steel has arrived at site. Erection of the structural steel has commenced for the mill area, power house and truck shop, and cladding will begin in the near term. Enclosure of these buildings will allow for work to continue through the colder months and remain on schedule. Additionally, it is expected that the ball mill will be set in place in December 2023, ahead of schedule, allowing the focus for the start of 2024 to shift to piping.

• Airstrip
Earthworks necessary to extend the airstrip are expected to be completed in September 2023. Planned extension of the airstrip to 5,000 feet will allow large capacity, fully loaded passenger planes to land at the Goose Project during the 2024 construction campaign. B2Gold expects that this will make employee and contractor rotations and supplying the project site from Edmonton significantly easier and will further de-risk the project.

GOOSE PROJECT MINE DEVELOPMENT

B2Gold made the decision to accelerate underground mining development to increase average gold production in the first five years to over 300,000 ounces per year. Mining development is progressing at the Echo open pit, which will be mined out prior to process plant commissioning in order to provide tailings storage capacity. Underground mining has exceeded 1,300 meters of horizontal development and the initial ventilation raise is expected to be completed in October 2023.

Underground mining is scheduled to mine and backfill the full Umwelt pillar earlier in the mine life than in prior mine plans, which is expected to contribute more than 150,000 ounces of gold production to the life of mine plan. Geotechnical and mine design and engineering continues and is expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2023. The underground development is currently less than 500 meters away from commencing ore production at the Umwelt crown pillar.

GOOSE PROJECT UPDATE LIFE OF MINE PLAN

The B2Gold technical team continues to analyze ways to optimize the Goose Project life of mine plan. Areas of optimization currently being studied include:

• Mining of the Umwelt Crown Pillar
The crown pillar between the Umwelt open pit and underground mining areas contains more than 150,000 ounces of gold and was only partially included in prior production schedules. Geotechnical and mine design and engineering is underway with the goal of mining and backfilling the crown pillar prior to completion of the Umwelt open pit.

• Underground Mining Method
The B2Gold engineering team has determined that most of the Umwelt underground mine can be mined effectively with long-hole stoping, which is expected to reduce costs and increase ore production rates.

• Renewable Power Generation
The Sabina team previously identified the potential for wind power generation, and studies are in progress by B2Gold to identify the best solution and to quantify the potential operational and cost impact to the Goose Project.

B2Gold expects to complete an updated Goose Project life of mine plan in the second half of 2023.

B2Gold is a low-cost international senior gold producer headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Founded in 2007, today, B2Gold has operating gold mines in Mali, Namibia and the Philippines, a mine under construction in northern Canada and numerous development and exploration projects in various countries including Mali, Colombia and Finland.

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