Otjikoto Mine, Namibia¹

History

B2Gold acquired the Company’s first African gold development project, the Otjikoto Gold Project, through a merger with Auryx Gold Corp. in December 2011. The Company received the Otjikoto Mining Licence in December 2012, and construction of the Otjikoto Mine commenced in April 2013. Within approximately 19 months, the first gold pour occurred on December 11, 2014, ahead of schedule.

Processing Plant

Conventional flowsheet whereby gold is recovered by gravity concentration/intensive leaching and by an agitated cyanide leach/carbon-in-pulp process for treatment of gravity tailings.

Power

Since commissioning the NamPower grid link, the Otjikoto Mine has reduced its overall processing plant costs by approximately 10%. In addition, the transition away from HFO to a combination of the solar power plant and the national grid will significantly reduce GHG emissions.

Production, Costs, Revenue & Sales^2,3

Notes

1. The disclosure contains forward-looking statements. Refer to the Legal section of the website (click here) for caution regarding forward-looking statements and the basis for presentation of Mineral Reserves, Mineral Resources and other technical disclosures.
2. B2Gold’s FY2024 and 2025 guidance gold production are presented on a 100% basis, unless otherwise stated.
3. Refer to “Non-IFRS measures” in the Company’s most recently filed MD&A (click here).
4. Certain portions of the following information are derived from and based on the technical report entitled “Otjikoto Gold Mine Namibia NI 43-101 Technical Report” (click here) with an effective date of December 31, 2018, and was prepared by Mr. Tom Garagan, P.Geo., Mr. Peter Montano, P.E., Mr. Ken Jones, P.E. and Mr. John Rajala, P.E. of B2Gold, and from the Company's most recent AIF, dated March 14, 2024 (click here) and are based on the assumptions, qualifications and procedures set out therein.

Processing

Mineral Reserve & Resource Estimates

Contained Gold – 100% Project Basis

Indicated Mineral Resource Statement

Notes

1. Mineral Resources have been classified using the CIM Standards. Mineral Resources are reported in situ or in stockpiles, inclusive of those Mineral Resources that have been modified to Mineral Reserves. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
2. All tonnage, grade and contained metal content estimates have been rounded; rounding may result in apparent summation differences between tonnes, grade, and contained metal content.
3. Mineral Resources are reported on a 100% project and a 90% attributable basis, the remaining 10% interest is held by EVI, a Namibian empowerment company.
4. The Qualified Person for the resource estimate is Andrew Brown, P.Geo., our Vice President, Exploration.
5. The Qualified Person for the stockpile estimates is Peter Montano, our Vice President, Projects.
6. The Mineral Resource estimate for Otjikoto accounts for mining depletion as of December 31, 2023. The Mineral Resource estimate has an effective date of December 31, 2023.
7. Mineral Resource estimates that are amenable to open pit mining methods are reported within a conceptual open pit shell based on a gold price of US$1,850/oz, metallurgical recovery of 98%, selling costs of US$77.92/oz including royalties and levies, and operating cost estimates of US$3.17/t mined (mining), US$12.32/t processed (processing) and US$3.87/t processed (general and administrative).
8. Mineral Resources that are potentially amenable to open pit mining are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.27 g/t Au. Mineral Resources that are potentially amenable to underground mining are reported at cut-off grades of 1.6, 2.40 or 3.45 g/t Au and a minimum thickness of 1.5 m.

Inferred Mineral Resource Statement

Notes

1. Mineral Resources have been classified using the CIM Standards. Mineral Resources are reported in situ or in stockpiles, inclusive of those Mineral Resources that have been modified to Mineral Reserves. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
2. All tonnage, grade and contained metal content estimates have been rounded; rounding may result in apparent summation differences between tonnes, grade, and contained metal content.
3. Mineral Resources are reported on a 100% project and a 90% attributable basis, the remaining 10% interest is held by EVI, a Namibian empowerment company.
4. TThe Qualified Person for the resource estimate is Andrew Brown, P.Geo., our Vice President, Exploration.
5. The Qualified Person for the stockpile estimates is Peter Montano, our Vice President, Projects.
6. The Mineral Resource estimate for Otjikoto accounts for mining depletion as of December 31, 2023. The Mineral Resource estimate has an effective date of December 31, 2023.
7. Mineral Resource estimates that are amenable to open pit mining methods are reported within a conceptual open pit shell based on a gold price of US$1,850/oz, metallurgical recovery of 98%, selling costs of US$77.92/oz including royalties and levies, and operating cost estimates of US$3.17/t mined (mining), US$12.32/t processed (processing) and US$3.87/t processed (general and administrative).
8. Mineral Resources that are potentially amenable to open pit mining are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.27 g/t Au. Mineral Resources that are potentially amenable to underground mining are reported at cut-off grades of 1.6, 2.40 or 3.45 g/t Au and a minimum thickness of 1.5 m.

Probable Mineral Reserves Statement

Notes

1. Mineral Reserves have been classified using the CIM Standards, are reported at the point of delivery to the process plant and have an effective date of December 31, 2023.
2. All tonnage, grade and contained metal content estimates have been rounded; rounding may result in apparent summation differences between tonnes, grade, and contained metal content.
3. Mineral Reserves are reported on a 100% project and a 90% attributable basis, the remaining 10% interest is held by EVI, a Namibian empowerment company.
4. The Qualified Person for the Mineral Reserve estimate within open pits, underground mining, and stockpiles is Peter Montano, our Vice President, Projects.
5. Otjikoto Mineral Reserves have an effective date of December 31, 2023 and have been prepared by Peter Montano, P.E., a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mineral Reserves to be mined using open pit methods or in stockpiles are based on a conventional open pit mining method, gold price of US$1,600/oz, metallurgical recovery of 98%, selling costs of US$67.61/oz including royalties and levies, average mining cost of US$3.38/t mined, average processing cost of US$12.75/t processed, and site general costs of US$3.92/t processed. Reserve model dilution and ore loss was applied through whole block averaging such that at a 0.45 g/t Au cut-off grade there is a 2.4% decrease in tonnes, a 2.3% reduction in grade, and a 4.6% reduction in ounces when compared to the Mineral Resource model. Mineral Reserves that will be mined by open pit methods or are in stockpiles are reported above a cut-off grade of 0.45 g/t Au.
6. Mineral Reserves that will be mined by underground methods assume a modified transverse longhole stoping mining method, gold price of US$1,600/oz, metallurgical recovery of 98%, selling costs of US$67.61/oz including royalties and levies, average mining cost of US$109.91/t mined, average processing cost of US$12.75/t processed, general costs of US$3.92/t processed, 10% dilution, and 85% mining recovery. Mineral Reserves that will be mined by underground methods are reported above a cut-off grade of 2.62 g/t Au.

Exploration

A total of $9 million was budgeted for exploration at Otjikoto in 2024, the largest program since the definition of the Wolfshag discovery in 2012. The focus of the exploration program was drilling the recently discovered Antelope deposit. The Antelope deposit, which comprises of the Springbok Zone, the Oryx Zone, and a possible third structure, Impala, subject to confirmatory drilling, is located approximately four kilometers southwest of the existing Otjikoto open pit. The Antelope deposit was discovered in 2022 following deep drill testing by B2Gold exploration personnel on three-dimensional models of airborne magnetic data. For the year ended December 31, 2024, $8 million was incurred on exploration at the Otjikoto mine area, including 45,666 m of diamond and reverse circulation drilling.

On January 31, 2024, the Company announced positive exploration drilling results from the Antelope deposit.

On June 20, 2024, the Company announced an initial Inferred Mineral Resource estimate for the Springbok Zone, the southernmost shoot of the recently discovered Antelope deposit. Over 36,000 meters have been drilled into the Springbok Zone to date, with 33 holes totaling 16,950 meters completed in 2024, to establish the 50 x 50 meter spacing that informs the initial Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate. Recent drilling at the Springbok Zone remains open southward, indicating additional exploration potential beyond the currently defined resource. The Company determined that the initial Inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 1.75 million tonnes grading 6.91 g/t gold for a total of 390,000 ounces of gold was sufficient to initiate a PEA on development of the deposit by underground mining methods, similar to the Wolfshag deposit.

On February 4, 2025, the Company announced positive PEA results for the Antelope deposit. Based on the positive results from the PEA, B2Gold believes that the Antelope deposit has the potential for become a small-scale, low-cost, underground gold mine that can supplement the low-grade stockpile production during the period from 2028 to 2032 and result in a meaningful production profile for Otjikoto into the next decade. The PEA for the Antelope deposit indicates an initial mine life of 5 years and total production of 327,000 ounces averaging approximately 65,000 ounces per year over the life-of-mine. In combination with the processing of existing low-grade stockpiles, production from the Antelope deposit has the potential to increase the Otjikoto mine production to approximately 110,000 ounces per year for 2029 through 2032. The Company has approved an initial budget of up to $10 million for 2024 to de-risk the Antelope deposit development by advancing early work planning, project permits, and long lead orders.

Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves does not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no guarantee that all or any part of the Mineral Resource will be converted into a Mineral Reserve. Inferred Mineral Resources are considered too geologically speculative to have mining and economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves.

A total of $7 million is budgeted for exploration at Otjikoto in 2025. The focus of the exploration program will be drilling to expand and define the Antelope deposit, with a total of 44,000 meters of drilling planned.