1. Mineral Reserves are reported at the point of delivery to the process plant, and have been classified using the CIM Standards. 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.
2. Fekola Complex: The Mineral Reserves have an effective date of December 31, 2023 and have been prepared by Peter Montano, P.E., our Vice President, Projects, and Qualified Person under NI 43-101.
3. Mineral Reserves are reported on a 100% basis. B2Gold holds an 80% attributable interest in the Fekola Mine (including the Fekola Open Pit, Cardinal Zone, and stockpiles); the remaining 20% interest in these areas is held by the State of Mali. B2Gold holds a 90% attributable interest in Fekola Regional (as defined below), and the remaining 10% interest in these areas is held by the State of Mali. Under the 2023 Mining Code, the State’s initial interest in Fekola Regional is maintained at 10%, but the State may acquire up to an additional 20% interest, and a further 5% interest must be available to be acquired by a local Malian stakeholder.
4. Mineral Reserves for the Fekola Open Pit are based on a conventional open pit mining method, gold price of US$1,600/oz, metallurgical recovery of 93%, selling costs of US$135.20/oz including royalties, and revenue based taxes and mining funds, mining cost at surface elevation of US$2.58/t mined, average processing cost of US$15.96/t processed, and site general costs of US$7.84/t processed. For Mineral Reserve reporting, the model with 2.5 x 5 x 2.5 m blocks (resource model) were regularized to 5 x 20 x 10 m blocks. For Indicated blocks, within the December 2022 conceptual resource pit, above a cut-off of 0.65 g/t Au, the large block regularized resource model is +0.3% on tonnage, -1.1% on grade and -0.8% on contained gold. No additional dilution or ore loss has been applied for final reserve reporting. Cost inputs for this Mineral Reserve estimate are based on the 2012 Mining Code.
5. Mineral Reserves of the Cardinal Zone are based on a conventional open pit mining method, gold price of US$1,600/oz, metallurgical recovery of 93 - 95% by rocktype, selling costs of US$135.20/oz including royalties, and revenue based taxes and mining funds, mining costs ranging from US$2.01/t mined for saprolite to US$2.51 for fresh rock at surface elevation, processing costs ranging from US$10.11/t processed for saprolite to US$16.46/t processed for fresh rock, and site general costs of US$0.44/t processed. For Mineral Reserve reporting, a 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 m rind of edge dilution was applied at each mineralization zone contact in the regularized model. For Indicated blocks, within the September 2023 conceptual resource pit, at a cut-off of 0.65 g/t Au, the regularized model with edge dilution compared to the regularized model is +6.0% on tonnage, -8.8% on grade and -2.9% on contained gold. Cost inputs for this Mineral Reserve estimate are based on the 2012 Mining Code.
6. Mineral Reserves for the Anaconda Area are based on a conventional open pit mining method, gold price of US$1,600/oz, metallurgical recovery of 93–95% by rocktype, selling costs of US$248.80/oz including royalties, and revenue based taxes and mining funds, mining costs ranging from US$1.93/t mined for saprolite to US$2.43 for fresh rock at surface elevation, processing costs ranging from US$13.61/t processed for saprolite to US$19.96/t processed for fresh rock that includes haulage cost to the Fekola mill, and site general costs of US$2.11/t processed. For Mineral Reserve reporting, a 1.0 x 1.0 x 0.5 m (X, Y, Z) rind of edge dilution was applied at each mineralization zone contact in the regularized model. For Indicated blocks, within the June 2023 conceptual resource pit, at cut-offs of 0.40 g/t Au for oxide ore material and 0.60 g/t Au for sulphide ore, the regularized model with edge dilution compared to the regularized (Resource) model is +2.9% on tonnage, -4.9% on grade and -2.2% on contained gold. Cost inputs for this Mineral Reserve estimate are based on the 2023 Mining Code.
7. Mineral Reserves for the Dandoko Area are based on a conventional open pit mining method, gold price of US$1,600/oz, metallurgical recovery of 76–94% by rocktype, selling costs of US$248.80/oz including royalties, and revenue based taxes and mining funds, mining costs ranging from US$1.93/t mined for saprolite to US$2.43 for fresh rock at surface elevation, processing costs ranging from US$14.61/t processed for saprolite to US$20.96/t processed for fresh rock that includes haulage cost to the Fekola mill, and site general costs of US$1.06/t processed. For Mineral Reserve reporting, the sub-cell models were regularized to a block size of 5 x 10 x 3.3333 m for Seko 1, and 5 x 10 x 10 m for Seko 2 and Seko 3 to account for dilution expected during mining. For Indicated plus Inferred blocks, within the February 2023 conceptual pit, at a cutoff of 0.30 g/t Au, the regularized model compared to the sub-cell model is +1% on tonnage, -3% on grade and -2% on contained gold. At a cut-off of 0.65 g/t Au, the regularized model compared to the sub-cell model is +15% on tonnage, - 13% on grade and -0.5% on contained gold. Cost inputs for this Mineral Reserve estimate are based on the 2023 Mining Code.
8. Masbate Gold Project: Mineral Reserves are reported on a 100% project and attributable basis. Pursuant to the ore sales and purchase agreement between Filminera and PGPRC, our wholly-owned subsidiary, PGPRC has the right to purchase all ore from the Masbate Gold Project. We have a 40% interest in Filminera, which owns the majority of the Masbate Gold Project tenements, and the remaining 60% is owned by Zoom Mineral Holdings Inc. (“Zoom”), a Philippine shareholder company. Masbate Mineral Reserves have an effective date of December 31, 2023 and have been prepared by Peter Montano, P.E., our Vice President, Projects, and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mineral Reserves are based on a conventional open pit mining method, gold price of US$1,600/oz, modeled metallurgical recovery (resulting in average LoM metallurgical recoveries by pit that range from 60% to 86%), and average base operating cost estimates of US$1.46–$2.23/t mined (mining), US$14.63/t processed (processing) and US$2.39–3.90/t processed (general and administrative). Reserve model dilution and ore loss were applied through whole block averaging such that at a 0.45 g/t Au cut-off there is a 2.6% increase in tonnes, a 6.6% reduction in grade, and a 4.1% reduction in ounces when compared to the Mineral Resource model. Mineral Reserves are reported at an assay cut-off grade of 0.47 g/t Au.
9. Otjikoto Mine: Otjikoto Mineral Reserves are reported on a 100% project and a 90% attributable basis, the remaining 10% interest is held by EVI Mining (Proprietary) Ltd. (“EVI”), a Namibian empowerment company. The Otjikoto Mine Mineral Reserves within the open pits and stockpiles have an effective date of December 31, 2023 and have been prepared by Peter Montano, P.E., our Vice President, Projects, and 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 Au 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. Mineral Reserves that will be mined using 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.
10. Goose Project: Mineral Reserves are reported on a 100% project and attributable basis. The Mineral Reserves have an effective date of December 31, 2023. The Qualified Person for the estimate is Maurice Mostert, F.AusIMM, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mineral Reserves are based on a gold price of US$1,500/oz and an exchange rate of C$1.31:US$1.00. Open pit cut-off grades vary from 1.60 g/t to 1.74 g/t Au and underground cut-off grades vary from 3.5 g/t to 4.1 g/t Au. Cut-off and reported grades are diluted as per mining methods.
11. Stockpiles: Mineral Reserves in stockpiled material are reported in the totals for the Fekola Mine, the Masbate Gold Project and the Otjikoto Mine, and were prepared by mine site personnel at each operation. Ore stockpile balances are derived from mining truck movements to individual stockpiles or detailed surveys, with grade estimated from routine grade control (“GC”) methods. Stockpile cut-off grades vary by deposit, from 0.40 to 0.65 g/t Au.