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B2Gold Achieves Commercial Production at the Fekola Mine Ahead of Schedule; Gold Production to date During Ramp Up is Approximately 80,000 Ounces, 158% Above Budget(1)
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 4, 2017) - B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO) (NY...
About this update from B2gold Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"B2Gold Achieves Commercial Production at the Fekola Mine Ahead of Schedule; Gold Production to date During Ramp Up is Approximately 80,000 Ounces, 158% Above Budget(1)Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 4, 2017) - B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO) (NYSE AMERICAN: BTG) (NSX: B2G) (\"B2Gold\" or the \"Company\") is pleased to announce that the Fekola Mine in Mali achieved commercial production on November 30, 2017, one month ahead of the revised schedule and four months ahead of the schedule announced in the Optimized Feasibility Study (\"OFS\"). Ramp up to full-scale production at Fekola remains ahead of schedule with gold production well above budget in each of the ramp-up months, beating original recovery, grade and plant availability estimates in the OFS design. To November 30, 2017, the Fekola Mine has produced approximately 80,000 ounces of gold1, approximately 158% above budget (31,000 ounces). Gold production from the Fekola Mine in 2017 is now forecast to be between 100,000 and 110,000 ounces, far surpassing the upper end of the original guidance of 45,000 to 55,000 ounces. Based on current assumptions and updates to B2Gold's current year guidance and long-term mine plans, the Company is now projecting consolidated gold production in 2017 of between 580,000 and 625,000 ounces. In 2018, consolidated gold production is forecast to be between 925,000 and 975,000 ounces. This represents an increase in annual consolidated gold production of approximately 58% for B2Gold in 2018 versus 2017. Annual consolidated cash operating costs (see \"Non-IFRS Measures\") and all-in sustaining costs (\"AISC\") (see \"Non-IFRS Measures\") for 2018 are forecast to decrease in 2018 to approximately $525 per ounce and $800 per ounce, respectively. B2Gold has declared commercial production at the Fekola Mine based on an internal commercial production measure of 30 consecutive days of mill throughput at 65% or greater of nameplate capacity (607 dry tonnes per hour). During the 30 consecutive-day commercial test, the mill achieved an average throughput of 626 dry tonnes per hour. This included an availability for the mill of 95% (budget was 70%) for the test period and a recovery that exceeded 95% (budget was 91%).The Fekola mill started processing ore more than three months ahead of schedule on September 25, 2017, (see news release dated...