The first gold production for the Otjikoto project is projected for the fourth quarter of 2014.
B2Gold Corp. (TSX: T.BTO, Stock Forum) said that its subsidiary, B2Gold Namibia, has been granted a 20-year mining licence by the Namibian Ministry of Mines for the Otjikoto gold project in Namibia.
The Otjikoto gold project, located 300 kilometres north of Windhoek, has a current expected annual production of over 100,000 ounces of gold over a ten-year-mine life.
According to the B2Gold press release, this is the last major requirement prior to commencing full-scale-mine construction, which is scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2013.
B2Gold anticipates that mine construction will last 2 years, with the first gold production projected for the fourth quarter of 2014 and the first full year of production being 2015.
B2Gold has a 92% ownership interest in the Otjikoto gold project with local partner EVI Gold (Pty) Ltd. having an 8% ownership interest.
B2Gold is a Vancouver based gold producer with two mines in Nicaragua and a strong portfolio of development and exploration assets in Nicaragua, Colombia, Uruguay and Namibia.
On Wednesday morning, B2Gold’s stock fell 2% and was trading at $3.35 a share. The company has a market cap of $1.3 billion, based on 393.1 million shares outstanding. Teh52-week high and low was $4.55 and $2.64 respectively.