B2Gold mine site in Masbate recorded its highest gold production with 216,498 ounces in 2018, making it the company’s all-time highest total global production.
The Canadian listed mining company said its gold production from Masbate even exceeded the upper limit of its guidance range for last year which was between 200,000 to 210,000.
In a company disclosure to Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, B2Gold’s gold production stood at 953,504 ounces, 51 percent higher than what they produced in the previous year and the highest they had to date.
The 10th consecutive year of positive consolidated gold revenue for the company amounted to a total of $1.2 billion, a powerful increase of 92 percent from 2017.
B2Gold is now planning expansion in their operation of MGP, aiming to increase its mill output to 8 million tons per annum from its current 6.8 million tons. This will come online early this year according to them.
Meanwhile, from the original $875 to $925 per ounce to $780 and $830, the company’s all-in sustaining costs (AISC) are also predicted to be at the low end of the reforecast guidance range.
The Canadian company got ahold of the Masbate Mine through a merger in January 2013 with CGA Mining Limited. Through B2Gold’s 100 percent ownership of the Philippine Gold Ltd., which owns 40 percent of Filminera Resources Corporation (FRC) and 100 percent of Philippine Gold Processing & Refining Corporation (PGPRC, they now indirectly own the mine.
The remaining 60 percent of FRC is owned by a Philippine registered company, Zoom Mineral Holdings Inc. (Zoom).
For 2019, the company has between 935,000 and 975,000 ounces as their projected global gold production, with AISC’s estimated valued at between $835 and $875 per ounce.
B2Gold also assigned a budget of US$43 million for “aggressive exploration” focused in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana.
