All eyes are on the Antelope deposit as the Otjikoto open mining operations are scheduled to conclude in the third quarter of 2025, while underground mining operations at Wolfshag are expected to continue into 2027.
The Antelope deposit is about 4km from the Otjikoto open pit mine in Namibia’s Otjozondjupa region.
B2Gold, which has 90% shareholding, has approved an initial budget of up to US$10 million for 2025 to de-risk the Antelope deposit development schedule by advancing early work planning, project permits, and long lead orders.
The company says the development decision on the Antelope deposit is expected in the third quarter of 2025, with the technical work, including geotechnical, hydrogeological, and metallurgical testing, is anticipated to be completed over the next several months.
A preliminary economic assessment announced on February 4, 2025, indicates that the Antelope deposit has the potential to become a small-scale, low-cost, underground gold mine that can supplement the low-grade stockpile production from 2028 to 2032 and result in a meaningful production profile for Otjikoto into the next decade.
The inferred mineral resource estimate for the Antelope deposit that formed the basis for the assessment included 1.75 million tons grading 6.91 g/t gold for 390,000 ounces of gold, most hosted in the Springbok Zone.
According to the assessment, the Antelope deposit indicates an initial mine life of 5 years and total production of 327,000 ounces, averaging approximately 65,000 ounces per year over mine life.
Combined with the processing of existing low-grade stockpiles, output from the Antelope deposit can potentially increase Otjikoto Mine production to approximately 110,000 ounces annually for 2029 through 2032.
However, B2Gold says the preliminary economic assessment is based on inferred mineral resources considered too speculative geologically to have the engineering and economic considerations applied to them, enabling them to be categorised as mineral reserves.
The company further says there is no certainty that the PEA based on these mineral resources will be realised. It says mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not demonstrate economic viability.
Meanwhile, the Otjikoto Mine continued to outperform during the first quarter of 2025, producing 52,578 ounces of gold, above expectations.
The mill feed grade was 1.96 g/t, mill throughput was 0.84 million tonnes, and gold recovery averaged 98.8%.
Capital expenditures totalled US$4 million, mainly US$3 million for Wolfshag underground mine development.
The Otjikoto Mine is expected to produce between 165,000 and 185,000 ounces of gold in 2025 at cash operating costs of between US$695 and US$755 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs of between US$980 and US$1,040 per ounce.
Gold production at Otjikoto will be weighted towards the first half of 2025 due to the conclusion of open pit mining activities in the third quarter of 2025.
For 2025, Otjikoto is expected to process a total of 3.4 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 1.63 g/t with a process gold recovery of 98.0%. Processed ore will be sourced from the Otjikoto pit and the Wolfshag underground mine, supplemented by existing ore stockpiles.
