Mine Expansion Confirming Very Positive Results from the Expansion Study PEA for the Fekola Mine in Mali (owned 80% B2Gold: 20% State of Mali)

VANCOUVER, May 13, 2019 /CNW/ - B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO, NYSE AMERICAN: BTG, NSX: B2G) ("B2Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its news release dated March 26, 2019, announcing results from the Expansion Study Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for the Fekola Mine located in Mali, on May 10, 2019, the Company filed a National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects technical report entitled "Fekola Gold Mine Mali NI 43-101 Technical Report" with an effective date of March 26, 2019 (the "Report"). The Report was prepared by Mr. Tom Garagan, P.Geo., Mr. Peter Montano, P.E., Mr. John Rajala, P.E. and Mr. Ken Jones, P.E. of B2Gold. There are no material differences in the Mineral Reserves, the Mineral Resources or the results of the PEA in the Report and those contained in the March 26, 2019, news release.

For additional details, please refer to the Report which may be found under B2Gold's corporate profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Fekola Expansion Technical Report Highlights:

• As currently envisioned, the Fekola Mine Expansion will include a mine fleet expansion and a processing plant upgrade. The plant upgrade will focus on increased ball mill power, with upgrades to other components including a new cyclone classification system, pebble crushers, and additional leach capacity to support the higher throughput and increase operability
   
• Assuming an effective date of January 1, 2019, a gold price of $1,300 per ounce and a discount rate of 5%, project economics highlights from the Expansion Study PEA include:
  
   
  • Estimated optimized life of mine ("LoM") extended into 2030, including significant estimated increases in average annual gold production to over 550,000 ounces per year during the five-year period 2020 - 2024 and over 400,000 ounces per year over the LoM (2019 - 2030)
     
  • Projected gold production of approximately 5,000,000 ounces over the new mine life of 12 years of mining and processing (including 2019). Prior to 2019, the Fekola Mine produced more than 550,000 ounces. The Fekola Mineral Resource remains open to the north
     
  • An increase in project pre-tax NPV of approximately $500 million versus the comparable amounts in the Company's latest Annual Information Form ("AIF") Mineral Reserve LoM model (filed on SEDAR on March 20, 2019)
     
  • Forecast LoM pre-tax net cash flow of approximately $2.8 billion and post-tax net cash flow of approximately $2.2 billion
     
  • Forecast LoM pre-tax net present value of over $2.2 billion and post-tax net present value of approximately $1.7 billion
     
  • Based on the post-tax cash flow results in the Expansion Study PEA, B2Gold is projecting LoM cash operating costs of approximately $465 per ounce (see Non-IFRS Measures) and all-in sustaining costs ("AISC") (see Non-IFRS Measures) of approximately $725 per ounce. Cash costs and AISC remain low despite mining a larger open pit at a slightly lower gold grade. This is due to economies of scale arising from increased mining and processing rates and the new optimized mining schedule
     
  • Forecast expansion capital payback period of less than one year
     
  • Estimated processing plant expansion capital cost of approximately $50 million over a period of approximately 18 months for processing expansion and upgrades (through Q3 2020). Half of this capital is expected to be spent in 2019 with the remaining half in 2020. It is anticipated that this will be financed from existing Fekola Mine cash flows. To date this year, the Company has ordered long lead items totaling approximately $12 million including all items on the critical path for commencement of increased throughput in Q3 2020
     
  • Projected annual mining rate increased to a baseline of approximately 54 million tonnes per annum ("Mtpa") and subsequently stepped up to approximately 76 Mtpa to support the increased processing and stockpiling necessary to maintain plant feed grade
     
  • Staged mining fleet additions totalling approximately $56 million over the LoM are expected to be equipment loans financed over respective five-year periods, on terms similar to the existing Fekola fleet loan terms
     
• The Company continues to work on further optimizing the PEA and expects to incorporate these results into an updated Fekola LoM study which will be available in Q4 2019
   
• Projected annual processing rate increased to a baseline of 7.5 Mtpa (current capacity of 6 Mtpa plus 1.5 Mtpa)
   
• Ongoing drilling continues to infill the existing Inferred Mineral Resources to Indicated Mineral Resources. Mineralization remains open to the north and down plunge, indicating the potential to further increase Fekola Mineral Resources and Reserves (see news release dated October 25, 2018) – an updated Mineral Resource will be announced in Q4 2019. A large exploration drilling program will commence in Q3 2019 to further test the Fekola North, Fekola South, Cardinal and Anaconda zones

The Expansion Study PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves. There is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

About B2Gold Corp. 

Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, B2Gold Corp. is the world's new senior gold producer. Founded in 2007, today, B2Gold has five operating gold mines, and numerous exploration and development projects in various countries including Nicaragua, the Philippines, Namibia, Mali, Burkina Faso and Colombia. 

B2Gold will maintain a strong and profitable production profile in 2019 with consolidated gold production forecast to be between 935,000 and 975,000 ounces. Based on current assumptions, consolidated cash operating costs are projected to be between $520 and $560 per ounce and consolidated AISC are projected to be between $835 and $875 per ounce. The Company continues to maximize cash flows by optimizing its impressive operational and financial performance from existing mines. In addition, the Company will balance its ongoing program of debt reduction with pursuing expansion opportunities at existing operations. Also, B2Gold will remain focussed on adding shareholder value through growth, driven by the exploration, development and expansion of its impressive pipeline of existing projects. Potential acquisitions will focus on exploration opportunities.