The Otjikoto Mine surpassed production expectations by delivering 45,416 ounces of gold in the first quarter of 2024.
B2Gold, which owns 90% of the mine, attributes this to a higher-than-anticipated mill feed grade.
The company says that for the first quarter of 2024, the mill feed grade stood at 1.74 g/t, the mill throughput was 0.83 million tonnes, and gold recovery averaged an impressive 98.5%.
The Otjikoto Mine is expected to produce between 180,000 and 200,000 ounces of gold in 2024 at cash operating costs of between $685 and $745 per ounce and all-in-sustaining costs of between $960 and $1,020 per ounce. Gold production at Otjikoto is expected to be relatively consistent throughout 2024.
Otjikoto is expected to process 3.4 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 1.77 g/t gold and a process gold recovery of 98.0%.
The company will source processed ore from the Otjikoto pit and the Wolfshag underground mine.
According to the first quarter report, Wolfshag underground mine ore production averaged over 1,500 tonnes per day at an average grade of 4.06 g/t gold.
As of the beginning of 2024, the probable mineral reserve estimate for the Wolfshag deposit includes 100,000 ounces of gold in 0.6 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 5.02 g/t gold.
Open-pit mining operations at the Otjikoto Mine will continue to ramp down in 2024 and conclude in 2025, while processing operations are expected to continue until economically viable stockpiles are exhausted in 2031.
Underground operations are projected to continue until 2026, with the potential to extend underground operations if the ongoing underground exploration program successfully identifies more underground mineral deposits.
On January 31, 2024, the company announced positive exploration drilling results from the Antelope deposit at the Otjikoto Mine.
The Antelope deposit, comprised of the Springbok Zone, the Oryx Zone, and a possible third structure, Impala, subject to further confirmatory drilling, is located approximately three kilometres south of the Otjikoto open pit.
The Antelope deposit has the potential to be developed as an underground mining operation, which could complement the expected processing of low-grade stockpiles at the Otjikoto mill from 2026 through 2031.
Cash operating costs for the first quarter of 2024 were US$642 per gold ounce produced (US$561 per ounce of gold sold).
Cash operating costs per gold ounce produced for the first quarter of 2024 were lower than expected due to higher production and a weaker Namibian dollar.
Cash operating costs per gold ounce sold in the first quarter of 2024 were lower than the cash operating costs per ounce produced in the same period due to the sale of lower-cost inventory made in the fourth quarter of 2023.
All-in-sustaining costs for the first quarter of 2024 were US$958 per gold ounce sold.
All-in-sustaining costs for the first quarter of 2024 were lower than expected due to lower-than-anticipated cash operating costs, higher-than-anticipated gold ounces sold, and lower-than-expected sustaining capital expenditures.
The lower sustaining capital expenditures were mainly due to the timing of expenses and are expected to be incurred later in 2024.
Capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2024 totalled US$14 million, including US$11 million for deferred stripping in the Otjikoto pit and US$3 million for Wolfshag underground mine development.
