News B2Gold Reports Strong First Quarter 2019 Results; Quarterly Gold Production of 231,000 oz, 6% Above Budget; AISC of $848/oz sold, significantly below budget by $133/oz
VANCOUVER, May 7, 2019 /CNW/ - B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO, NYSE AMERICAN: BTG, NSX: B2G) ("B2Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its operational and financial results for the first quarter of 2019. The Company previously released its gold production and gold revenue for the first quarter of 2019 (see news release dated 04/17/19). All dollar figures are in United States dollars unless otherwise indicated.
2019 First Quarter Highlights
- Consolidated gold production of 230,859 ounces, 6% (12,704 ounces) above budget
- Consolidated gold revenue of $302 million on sales of 232,076 ounces (6% or 13,564 ounces above budget)
- Consolidated cash operating costs (see "Non-IFRS Measures") of $545 per ounce sold, below budget by $27 per ounce (5%)
- Consolidated all-in sustaining costs ("AISC") (see "Non-IFRS Measures") of $848 per ounce sold, significantly below budget by $133 per ounce (14%)
- Consolidated cash flows from operating activities of $86 million ($0.09 per share); for full-year 2019, if a gold price assumption of $1,300 per ounce is used, the Company expects to generate cash flows from operations of approximately $400 million for the year
- Strong cash position of $142 million at quarter-end
- On March 26, 2019, the Company announced very positive results from the Expansion Study Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for the Fekola Mine, including significant estimated increases in average annual gold production to over 550,000 ounces per year during the five-year period 2020-2024, and is proceeding with an expansion project to increase Fekola's processing throughput by 1.5 million tonnes per annum ("Mtpa") to 7.5 Mtpa from the current base rate of 6 Mtpa; the Company will issue an updated Fekola Expansion Technical Report pursuant to the requirements of NI 43-101 by May 10, 2019
- In May 2019, the Company received commitments from its existing syndicate of banks plus one new lender, to upsize the revolving credit facility ("RCF") capacity from $500 million to $600 million and to increase the accordion feature from $100 million to $200 million; the upsized RCF is expected to close by mid-May 2019
- For full-year 2019, B2Gold remains well positioned for continued strong operational and financial performance with consolidated gold production forecast to be in the range of between 935,000 and 975,000 ounces with cash operating costs forecast to be between $520 and $560 per ounce sold and AISC forecast to be between $835 and $875 per ounce sold