B2Gold speeds towards Q3 resource at Antelope, near Otjikoto mine in Namibia

B2Gold (TSX: BTO, NYSE-AM: BTG) says drill results released today confirm the potential to expand production at its Otjikoto mine in Namibia. The results were from drilling conducted last year at the Antelope deposit, discovered in 2022.

Antelope comprises the Springbok zone, the Oryx zone, and a possible third structure, Impala, subject to further confirmatory drilling. Located only 3 km south of one of the Otjikoto mine’s open pits, the discovery followed deep drill testing on three-dimensional models of magnetic inversion data.

Last year, B2Gold drilled a total of 20,715 metres in 37 holes at Antelope, making up a majority of the drilling completed under its US$3.3-million exploration program around Otjikoto.

Highlighted drill holes include 12.88 grams gold per tonne gold over 7.6 metres from 485 metres in GH22-048, which intersected at the Springbok zone; and 9.86 grams gold over 7.5 metres from 517.6 metres in hole GH23-056 in the Oryx zone.

According to B2Gold, the drill results at Springbok and Oryx indicate the potential for possible underground development of Antelope, which it believes could begin to contribute to gold production at Otjikoto as soon as 2026.

Otjikoto, located in the north-central part of Namibia, is the largest gold producer in the country. It consists of the namesake open pit and the new Wolfshag underground mine that together hold 620,000 oz. in probable reserves.

The open pit operation is expected to wrap up in 2025, while underground mining operations at Wolfshag will continue through 2026, B2Gold confirmed in a release Wednesday.

Otjikoto is expected to churn out between 180,000 and 200,000 oz. in 2024 and 2025, just under 100,000 oz. in 2026, and less than 50,000 oz. from 2026 through 2031 during the processing of low-grade stockpiles.

As such, underground mining at Antelope could supplement the lower-grade material and potentially get production levels to over 100,000 oz. per year during that period, the company said.

B2Gold is targeting an initial resource estimate for Antelope by the third quarter, followed by an internal scoping study on an underground mining operation, to be completed by the first quarter of 2025.

To achieve these milestones, the miner has tripled its exploration budget for Namibia in 2024 to US$9 million, which represents its largest drill program since the definition of the Wolfshag discovery in 2012. A 39,000-metre drill program has been planned to define and expand the Antelope deposit.

B2Gold acquired Otjikoto, first African development project, in a 2011 takeover of Auryx Gold. It now has a 90% ownership in the operation, with local company EVI Mining holding the other 10%.

Shares of B2Gold closed the day down 0.8% at $3.75 apiece. The stock’s 52-week price range is $3.56-$5.87. The senior gold producer has a market capitalization of $4.9 billion.