Canadian bullion miner B2Gold, owners of the Otjikoto mine in Namibia, has hiked its 2021 guidance to between 1.012-million and 1.055-million ounces, following a strong third quarter in which output came in above target.
The company produced 310 261 oz, including 14 538 oz of attributable production from its interest in Calibre Mining.
Consolidated production from B2Gold’s three operating mines was 20 083 oz above its budget, producing 295 723 oz. Fekola, in Mali, and Otjikoto, in Namibia, each delivered a record performance of 165 557 oz and 68 959 oz, respectively. Masbate, in the Philippines, produced 61 207 oz and its performance was also above guidance.
B2Gold increased the guidance of the Fekola and Masbate mines, resulting in its consolidated guidance for its three operating mines increasing to between 965 000 oz and 995 000 oz, from between 920 000 oz and 970 000 oz.
For the third quarter, B2Gold reported consolidated gold revenue of $511-million on sales of 286 650 oz at an average realised price of $1 782/oz, compared with $487-million on sales of 253 200 oz at an average price of $1 924/oz in the same quarter last year.-miningweekly