B2Gold Corp (TSE: BTO) (NYSEAMERICAN: BTG) continues to explore the upside potential from its 144,245 acre Back River Gold project in Nunavut, even as it prepares for its first ever gold pour at the Goose Mine.
The company reported on Wednesday that it was on track to ramp up commercial production at the Goose gold mine by mid-year. The company has invested over CAD$1.5 billion in construction and mine development.
The Back River project, covering 144,245 acres (58,734 hectares), lies in southwestern Nunavut, approximately 325 miles (520 kilometers) northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. This project spans ten claim blocks: Bath, Beech, Boot, Boulder, Del, George, Goose, Malley, Needle, and Wishbone.
B2Gold picked up Back River in 2023 as part of its CAD$1.1 billion takeover of Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. The company has since focused its energies on developing it into a more than 300,000 ounce per year gold mine at Goose.
The company has spread out its operations to include gold mines in Africa and the Philippines, but Goose will become the company’s first operation in Canada. Headquartered in British Columbia, B2Gold has also actively positioned itself for growth in Canada’s North by investing in Snowline Gold Corp (OTCMKTS: SNWGF) (CVE: SGD) and Prospector Metals Corp (CVE: PPP) (OTCMKTS: PMCOF). These are two Yukon-focused exploration companies with promising gold assets.
As crews finalized the development of B2Gold’s first mining operation in Canada, the company invested approximately CAD$39 million in a Back River exploration program to enhance and expand the substantial resource base at Goose and nearby regional targets.
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Crews had completed 25K meters of drilling at Back River by November
By the start of 2024, the Goose project contained 9.7 million metric tons of measured resources averaging 5.75 grams per metric ton (1.8 million ounces) of gold, 16.6 million metric tons of indicated resources averaging 6.18 g/t (3.3 million ounces) of gold, and 8.4 million metric tons of inferred resources averaging 6.64 g/t (1.8 million ounces) of gold.
Furthermore the five deposits—Umwelt, Llama, Goose, Echo, and Nuvuyak—contain these resources along an eight-kilometer (five-mile) trend at Goose.
By early November, crews had completed 25,125 meters of drilling at Back River, with approximately 18,380 meters focused on the Umwelt and Llama deposits included in the current mine plan. B2Gold reports that the 14,480 meters drilled at Umwelt during the first 10 months of 2024 confirmed the continuity of high-grade mineralization. The company also notes that some drill holes intercepted higher-grade gold than predicted by the existing mineral resource model.
B2Gold expressed particular excitement about the high gold grades drilled last year at Nuvuyak and Mammoth, two deposits located down-plunge from the Goose Main deposit that are not included in the current mine plan.
At Nuvuyak, one exploration hole (24GSE-683Z) intercepted 28.8 meters averaging 6.39 g/t gold, including 6.45 meters averaging 23.49 g/t gold, situated 1,000 meters west and down-plunge from Goose Main.
Ever since the company effectively established a foothold in Canada’s north by picking up Back River, B2Gold has invested in promising juniors with equally promising gold projects in the Yukon.
This includes a 9.9 per cent stake in Snowline in 2023, which is one of the hottest gold exploration companies in Canada.
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Snowline reported 7.3 million ounces of gold by mid-2024
Snowline had not put together a resource for Valley, which is its primary target on its Rouge property in the Yukon. But it verified its potential by finding strong gold mineralization before long.
In mid-2024, Snowline published its inaugural resource estimate for Valley, reporting 7.3 million ounces of gold. This estimate further indicates that the deposit in eastern Yukon contains 76 million metric tons of indicated resources averaging 1.66 g/t (4.05 million ounces) of gold, along with 81 million metric tons of inferred resources averaging 1.25 g/t (3.26 million ounces) of gold.
Dropped earlier this week, the company’s financial statements indicate that the company’s projects in Nunavut are effectively the cornerstone of its business successes. The company pulled in a robust gold revenue of USD$500 million in Q4 alone, driven essentially by selling 187,793 ounces of gold at record prices of $2,661 per ounce.
Overall, the company produced 186,001 ounces of gold, including 19,644 ounces from its stake in Calibre Mining Corp. (TSE: CXB) (OTMRKTS: CXBMF). Goose is on track to produce between 120,000 and 150,000 ounces in 2025 and sustain annual output of approximately 310,000 ounces from 2026 to 2031.
Calibre Mining is a sponsor of Mugglehead news coverage
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joseph@mugglehead.com
