The international miner B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO) (NYSE AMERICAN: BTG) is considering development of a new underground mine near Namibia’s Otjikoto operation after favourable assays from last year’s drill program.
The company said Wednesday that it completed over 20,000 metres of drilling at the Antelope deposit last year and now plans to ramp up its drilling rate there by nearly 100 per cent in 2024. The deposit, three kilometres from Otjikoto, produced core samples with 12.9 g/t gold over 7.6 metres and 9.9 g/t Au in a 7.5-metre interval during 2023.
Those drill results helped give the company a positive outlook on the underground feasibility of the deposit.
The majority of Otjikoto’s US$9 million exploration budget this year will be allocated to Antelope. The company says it could start contributing to the mine’s gold production by 2026.
B2Gold announced in April last year that the Otjikoto mine would be undergoing a phased closure due to depleted resources. Last year was the final year of full-scale open-pit mining at the operation and it will be completely shut down by 2031.
The mine is expected to produce between 180,000 and 200,000 ounces annually in 2024 and 2025. It will then only produce about 100,000 the following year and 50,000 in the ensuing years as operations wind down. B2Gold will invest a total of about US$33.6 million in the mine during 2024.
Despite Otjikoto’s impending shutdown in the coming decade, B2Gold employees were seen making the most of their remaining time there last year.
Read more: Calibre Mining reports bonanza grade drill results at Nicaragua’s Limon mine
Read more: Calibre Mining closes top tier gold merger with Marathon Gold
Otjikoto to receive electricity from solar plant
B2Gold’s Namibia mine will soon be receiving a significant amount of its electricity from a new solar plant. This is thanks to South Africa’s Sustainable Power Solutions (SPS) and its partners in the country.
They have invested about US$10.6 million in a 10-megawatt solar plant expected to be operational by the end of the year.
“We are thrilled to be developing this novel project for B2Gold with our Namibian partners Fortitude and the Oelofse family,” SPS CEO Francois van Themaat said.
B2Gold previously constructed a solar farm of its own for Otjikoto in 2018 that reduced its power expenses by about 14 per cent. The operation will now utilize an increased amount of solar energy for the remainder of its life.
Commercial and industrial solar developer, Sustainable Power Solutions (SPS), is constructing a 10 MW solar project in Namibia.
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B2Gold has mining operations in Africa, Canada, Colombia and the Philippines.
The company also currently benefits from a 25 per cent stake in Calibre Mining Corp. (TSX: CXB) (OTCQX: CXBMF), a company that has been having significant success in Central America.
Calibre reported a bonanza-grade intercept from its Limon Mine Complex in Nicaragua this week. It contained more than 111 g/t gold over 4.1 metres.
The company had its fifth consecutive record quarterly gold production in Q4 last year, generating over 75,000 ounces. The majority of that gold came from Calibre’s Nicaragua mining infrastructure.
Calibre Mining is a sponsor of Mugglehead news coverage
rowan@mugglehead.com
