"VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 23, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO, NYSE AMERICAN: BTG, NSX: B2G) (“B2Gold” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide a construction update on the Goose Project, located in the 100% owned Back River Gold District in Nunavut, Canada. B2Gold acquired the Back River Gold District as part of the acquisition of Sabina Gold & Silver (“Sabina”) in April 2023.
Goose Project Construction Update Highlights
Goose Project remains on schedule for mill completion in Q1 2025: The 2023 winter ice road season was completed, with B2Gold receiving all critical materials necessary to maintain the schedule to complete construction of the mill in the first quarter of 2025. Currently, camp construction is underway, generators are being installed, and construction workshops are being erected.
Total initial capital expenditure estimate of C$800 million, in line with B2Gold expectations since the Sabina acquisition announcement, reflects scope changes to further optimize the Goose Project: B2Gold has updated the construction budget to de-risk the project and construct a reliable and low operating cost mine. 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, including the mining of the Umwelt crown pillar (discussed below). The cost to accelerate underground mining is estimated at an additional C$90 million.
Accelerated underground mining development to increase average gold production in the first five years to over 300,000 ounces per year: Mining is underway in the Echo open pit, which will be mined out prior to process commissioning to provide tailings storage capacity. Underground mining has exceeded 1,500 meters of horizontal development and the initial ventilation raise will reach the surface shortly.
Underground mining is now scheduled to mine and backfill the full Umwelt crown pillar earlier in the mine life, which is expected to contribute over 150,000 ounces of gold production to the life of mine plan: 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 using long-hole stoping methods to increase production rates and reduce operating costs. The crown pillar zone contains over 150,000 ounces of gold, which will be mined and processed earlier in the mine life than prior mine plans.
First winter ice road successfully brought all required materials to complete building envelopes in 2023: Concrete, steel, and consumables required for construction were successfully transported to the Goose Project site on the winter ice road and are staged at the construction site. Construction equipment including cranes, generators, welders, lifts, and tooling are in operation and being used for camp and workshop construction. Completion of the 2023 winter ice road successfully de-risked the development of future winter ice roads.
Site construction is ongoing, led by Kieran Loughran, who has successfully managed five construction projects for B2Gold and its predecessor company Bema Gold: Mr. Loughran and the B2Gold in-house construction team have successfully built the following projects on-time and on-budget over the past three decades: the Julietta and Kupol mines in Russia, the La Libertad mine in Nicaragua, the Otjikoto mine in Namibia, and the Fekola mine in Mali. The B2Gold in-house construction team is complemented by key personnel previously working on the project with Sabina."
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I do own a piddle sub-ounce amount in total. However, with some other real tiny juniors the number of shares makes it seem like it's huge holdings, sometimes. EG $200 in shares does sound real good when you express it as 10,000 shares in XYZ corp. <SEG> Not so much when the fact that it's $0.02/share for the total of $200. 
