VANCOUVER, Sept. 16, 2019 /CNW/ - B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO,
NYSE AMERICAN: BTG, NSX: B2G) ("B2Gold" or the "Company") is
pleased to announce that the Company and AngloGold Ashanti Limited
("AngloGold") have agreed in principle to terms relating to the
parties' respective ownership percentages and future management of
the joint venture on the Gramalote gold project in Colombia. The companies have agreed that
B2Gold will sole fund the next $13.9
million of expenditures on the Gramalote Project (the "Sole
Fund Amount"), following which B2Gold will hold a 50% ownership
interest in the joint venture (B2Gold currently holds a 48.3%
interest). Under the amended terms, AngloGold and B2Gold will each
hold a 50% interest and B2Gold will start an immediate transition
to become manager of the Gramalote joint venture by the end of
2019, conditional upon the parties entering into an amended and
restated shareholders agreement. The parties will continue to have
equal representation on the joint venture management committee.
Following the expenditure of the Sole Fund Amount, each joint
venture partner will fund its share of expenditures pro rata.
B2Gold and AngloGold have also agreed on a budget for the
feasibility study on the Gramalote Project up to $40 million for the remainder of 2019 and through
the end of 2020. This budget will fund 42,500 metres of infill
drilling and 7,645 metres of geotechnical drilling for site
infrastructure. The Company currently expects to complete all
drilling by the end of May 2020. In
addition, the budget will fund feasibility work including an
updated mineral resource, detailed mine planning, additional
environmental studies, metallurgical test work, engineering and
detailed economic analysis.
The Company expects that the Gramalote joint venture will
continue to advance resettlement programs, establish coexistence
programs for small miners, work on health, safety and environmental
projects and will continue to work with government and local
communities on social programs. B2Gold, as manager, plans to
continue the feasibility work into 2020 with the goal of completing
a final feasibility study by December 31,
2020. Due to the extensive testing programs that have been
completed and the high level of engineering performed in 2017 for
an internal pre-feasibility study, the engineering work remaining
to get to final feasibility is not extensive. The main work program
for feasibility is infill drilling to confirm and upgrade the
Inferred Mineral Resources to Indicated status.
The Gramalote Project is located 230 kilometres ("km") northwest
of Bogota and 80 km northeast of
Medellin in central Colombia. Based on the recent remodeling of
the Gramalote geologic resource, the Company believes that the
Gramalote Project has the potential, subject to completion of
infill drilling scheduled to commence in November 2019 and a final feasibility study
expected by the end of 2020, to become a large low-cost open pit
gold mine. The Gramalote Project has several key infrastructure
advantages, including:
- Reliable water supply – high rainfall region
- Adjacent to a national highway, which connects to a major river
and seaports
- Proximity to the national electricity grid with ample low-cost
power and stable record of hydroelectric power
- Technically capable workforce within Colombia
The Environmental Impact Study and Project Implementation Plans
for the Gramalote Project have been fully approved by the National
Authority of Environmental Licenses of Colombia. Due to the desired modifications to
the processing plant and infrastructure locations, a Modified
Environment Impact Study and a Modified Project Implementation plan
were submitted and are currently in the final approval process. If
the final economics of the feasibility study are positive and the
joint venture makes the decision to develop Gramalote as an
open-pit gold mine, B2Gold would utilize its proven internal mine
construction team to build the mine and mill facilities.
Tom Garagan, Senior Vice
President of Exploration for B2Gold, has acted as the qualified
person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 for this disclosure
and supervised the preparation of the technical information in this
news release.
About B2Gold
Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, B2Gold Corp. is the world's
new senior gold producer. Founded in 2007, today, B2Gold has five
operating gold mines and numerous exploration and development
projects in various countries including Nicaragua, the
Philippines, Namibia,
Mali, Burkina Faso and Colombia.
In 2019, based on current assumptions, consolidated gold
production is forecast to be between 935,000 and 975,000 ounces
with cash operating costs projected to be between $520 and $560 per
ounce and all-in sustaining costs projected to be between
$835 and $875 per ounce.
ON BEHALF OF B2GOLD CORP.
"Clive T. Johnson"
President and Chief
Executive
Officer
For more information on B2Gold please visit the Company website
at www.b2gold.com or contact:
Ian
MacLean
|
Katie Bromley
|
Vice President,
Investor Relations
|
Manager,
Investor Relations & Public Relations
|
604-681-8371
|
604-681-8371
|
imaclean@b2gold.com
|
kbromley@b2gold.com
|
The Toronto Stock Exchange and the NYSE
American LLC neither approve nor disapprove the
information contained in this news release.
This news release includes certain "forward-looking
information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively
"forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable
Canadian and United States
securities legislation, including projections, estimates and other
statements regarding future financial and operational performance,
events, production, costs, including projected cash operating costs
and AISC, capital expenditures, budgets and growth, production
estimates and guidance; and statements regarding anticipated
exploration, development, construction, production, permitting and
other activities and achievements of the Company, including but not
limited to: the conversion of inferred mineral resources to
indicated mineral resources; the projections included in existing
technical reports, economic assessments and feasibility studies;
the results of anticipated or potential new technical reports and
studies, including the potential findings and conclusions
thereof. Estimates of mineral resources and reserves are also
forward-looking statements because they constitute projections
regarding the amount of minerals that may be encountered in the
future and/or the anticipated economics of production, should a
production decision be made. All statements in this news release
that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the
future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
are statements that are not historical facts and are generally,
although not always, identified by words such as "expect", "plan",
"anticipate", "project", "target", "potential", "schedule",
"forecast", "budget", "estimate", "intend" or "believe" and similar
expressions or their negative connotations, or that events or
conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might"
occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the
opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements
are made. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve
assumptions, risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond
B2Gold's control, including risks and assumptions associated with
the volatility of metal prices and our common shares; risks and
dangers inherent in exploration, development and mining activities;
uncertainty of reserve and resource estimates; risk of not
achieving production, cost or other estimates; risk that actual
production, development plans and costs differ materially from the
estimates in our feasibility studies; risks related to hedging
activities and ore purchase commitments; the ability to obtain and
maintain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required
for mining activities; risks related to environmental regulations
or hazards and compliance with complex regulations associated with
mining activities; the ability to replace mineral reserves and
identify acquisition opportunities; unknown liabilities of
companies acquired by B2Gold; ability to successfully integrate new
acquisitions; fluctuations in exchange rates; availability of
financing; risks relating to financing and debt; risks related to
operations in foreign and developing countries and compliance with
foreign laws; risks related to remote operations and the
availability of adequate infrastructure, fluctuations in price and
availability of energy and other inputs necessary for mining
operations; shortages or cost increases in necessary equipment,
supplies and labour; regulatory, political and country risks; risks
related to reliance upon contractors, third parties and joint
venture partners; challenges to title or surface rights; dependence
on key personnel and ability to attract and retain skilled
personnel; the risk of an uninsurable or uninsured loss; adverse
climate and weather conditions; litigation risk; competition with
other mining companies; changes in tax laws; community support for
our operations including risks related to strikes and the halting
of such operations from time to time; risks related to failures of
information systems or information security threats; ability
to maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting as
required by law; risks relating to compliance with anti-corruption
laws; as well as other factors identified and as described in more
detail under the heading "Risk Factors" in B2Gold's most recent
Annual Information Form and B2Gold's other filings with Canadian
securities regulators and the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "SEC"), which may be viewed at www.sedar.com and
www.sec.gov, respectively (the "Websites"). The list is not
exhaustive of the factors that may affect the Company's
forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such
statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results,
performance or achievements could differ materially from those
expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements.
Accordingly, no assurance can be given that any events anticipated
by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if
any of them do, what benefits or liabilities B2Gold will derive
therefrom. The Company's forward-looking statements reflect current
expectations regarding future events and operating performance and
speak only as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume
any obligation to update forward-looking statements if
circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions
should change other than as required by applicable law. The
Company's forward-looking statements are based on the applicable
assumptions and factors management considers reasonable as of the
date hereof, based on the information available to management at
such time. These assumptions and factors include, but are not
limited to, assumptions and factors related to the Company's
ability to carry on current and future operations, including
development and exploration activities; the timing, extent,
duration and economic viability of such operations, including any
mineral resources or reserves identified thereby; the accuracy and
reliability of estimates, projections, forecasts, studies and
assessments; the Company's ability to meet or achieve estimates,
projections and forecasts; the availability and cost of inputs; the
price and market for outputs, including gold; the timely receipt of
necessary approvals or permits; the ability to meet current and
future obligations; the ability to obtain timely financing on
reasonable terms when required; the current and future social,
economic and political conditions and other assumptions and factors
generally associated with the mining industry. For the reasons set
forth above, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking
statements.
Cautionary Note to United States
Investors
The Company has prepared its public
disclosures in accordance with Canadian securities laws, which
differ in certain respects from U.S. securities laws. In
particular, this news release may refer to "mineral resources",
"measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" or
"inferred mineral resources". While these categories of
mineralization are recognized and required by Canadian securities
laws, they are not recognized by the SEC and are not normally
permitted to be disclosed in SEC filings by U.S. companies. U.S.
investors are cautioned not to assume that any part of a "mineral
resource", "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral
resource" or "inferred mineral resource" will ever be converted
into a "reserve." In addition, "reserves" reported by the Company
under Canadian standards may not qualify as reserves under SEC
standards. Under SEC standards, mineralization may not be
classified as a "reserve" unless the mineralization can be
economically and legally extracted or produced at the time the
"reserve" determination is made. Accordingly, information contained
or referenced in this news release containing descriptions of the
Company's mineral deposits may not be compatible to similar
information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting
and disclosure requirements of U.S. federal securities laws, rules
and regulations. "Inferred mineral resources" have a great amount
of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty as to
their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all
or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded
to a higher category. Historical results or feasibility models
presented herein are not guarantees or expectations of future
performance.
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SOURCE B2Gold Corp.