B2Gold plans to build $129m underground mine in Namibia

CANADIAN gold miner B2Gold said a preliminary economic assessment of the Antelope deposit near Otjikoto mine in Namibia supported the development of a 65,000 ounce a year underground gold mine requiring pre-production capital of $129m.

Including gold processed from low-grade stockpiles at Otjikoto, production will total 110,000 oz/year. The Antelope deposit is located four kilometres from the original Otjikoko pit. Underground mining will be from 2029 through 2032. All-in-sustaining costs (AISC) at the mine is forecast to be $1,095/oz.

B2Gold will spend $10m this year derisking the Antelope deposit. This will include early work planning, getting project permits and committing to long-lead orders. Technical work will also continue while cost assumptions are refined, the company said in its PEA.

In terms of permitting, the Antelope deposit is contained within the existing Otjikoto mining lease. Production from Antelope comes as Otjikoto – which once figured in the reckoning of former South African mining house Avmin in the Nineties – ramps down in 2026. Underground mining operations at the mine’s Wolfshag reserve are expected to continue through to 2026, according to the company in January last