A Healthy Hybrid
B2Gold Grows With Auryx Buy
By Ted Niles
It is a rare company that hasn’t seen its share price take a beating this year. Rarer still, one that has seen the steady growth that B2Gold Corp TSX:BTO has. President and CEO Clive Johnson puts it down to strength of management, “beating your projections” and growth through exploration and acquisition. He adds, “Most explorers don’t produce; and most producers don’t find a lot. In our case, we’re a bit of a hybrid company. We’re producers, but we’re also very good at exploration. We always have been.”
True enough, as anyone familiar with B2Gold and its predecessor, Bema Gold, will attest. When Bema—a company which began as a grassroots explorer—was acquired by Kinross Gold Corporation TSX:K in 2006 for $3.1 billion, it had nine mines in five countries with reserves and resources of 50 million ounces gold, 80 million ounces silver and 2.9 billion ounces copper. Founded in 2007 (and retaining Bema’s executive and management team), B2Gold now has two producing mines in Nicaragua—La Libertad and Limon, with combined production in 2010 of 108,700 ounces gold—as well as other properties in Latin American and now, after its October 11 acquisition of Auryx Gold Corp TSX:AYX, Namibia.
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