Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/882975
10 www.resourceworld.com O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7 looking at first gold production in early October. Then we go through a commis- sioning period and by the end of the year, we expect to be at commercial production. We've got 1.5 million tonnes of good grade ore on a stock pile. This mine is projected to process 5 million tonnes a year so the stock pile gives us a good start. We're projecting between 50,000 and 55,000 ounces this year from Fekola. Next year, which will be the first full year, we're looking at 400,000 to 410,000 ounces. Our projected low operating costs will be some- where around $354 an ounce and AISC of $609 an ounce. Fekola increases our com- pany's gold production by approximately 70%. It will bring our production close a million ounces a year – 925,000 to 975,000 ounces a year, starting in 2018. Next year, based on current projections, operating costs as a company should be between $525 and $535 an ounce and all-in sustain- ing costs of approximately $800 per ounce. With Fekola being a new addition to our portfolio of mines, it's a transitional time because the impact on revenues and cash flow is dramatic when you have that kind of increase in production. This is part of being contrarian again when two and a half years ago we acquired Fekola by taking over an Australian company. They did a good job of finding and exploring this world class deposit, had a feasibility study and a min- ing permit. But they couldn't raise the money to build it on reasonable terms. We bid half a billion dollars US worth of our shares for a friendly takeover with no other serious bidders despite the fact it was con- sidered one of the best undeveloped gold resources in West Africa. Growth was out of favour with many investors at the time and so many potential bidders were not in the acquisition mode. Our view was and is that the best time to build a low cost gold mine is any time and all the time. That's what we've done. I've always said that "bold initiatives are always done by the few – not the many." If you can be successful when going against the tide, that's the greatest opportunity. RW: What is happening at the Kiaka Project? CJ: The Kiaka Project is a large oppor- tunity in Burkina Faso that we acquired some years ago. We knew at the time that it was a low-grade, 4 million ounce deposit that had a feasibility study that needed a better gold price or a better grade to make it economic. We acquired it for $48 million worth of our shares – a cheap acquisition. We've done quite a bit of work and have a new discovery north of the Kiaka deposit called Toega that is significantly higher grade. We think Toega may be a stand- alone, it may become our first mine in Burkina Faso, or we may combine it with Kiaka. We should come out with an initial Toega gold resource estimate late this year. RW: Is your Nicaragua exploration pro- gram near your existing El Limon and La Libertad mines? CJ: Yes – they're mostly brownfields. El Limon was in production and needed some fixing up and La Libertad needed to be built. Our first two mines in Nicaragua were a good start for us and a big part of our rapid growth. RW: Have you been able to find skilled workers? CJ: We feel it is our obligation to go into these countries and train people to work in the mining industry safely. We have been successful in doing that at all of our opera- tions. In Namibia, we had about 800 people involved with the Otjikoto Mine construc- tion. Then we took about 150 up to Mali to start building Fekola. That was the core construction group. Out of the 150 people, 50 of them were Namibians, trained by us at Otjikoto. So here's Namibians going to Mali to help train Malians in modern gold mine construction. When you tell that story to the presi- dent of Namibia and the president of Mali, that's the kind of thing they want to hear. I think that part of our legacy is our com- mitment to train people not only for the job at hand but be prepared to take those people and move them to the next project and leave a significant impact not just in regions but in these countries we work in. RW: Are you currently seeking grass- roots exploration projects? CJ: We're always looking at opportuni- ties for the next mine to build but always want to have a healthy exploration budget. We have over $55 million for exploration, one of the larger ones in the gold indus- try. A lot of that is brownfields around our existing mines but there's a healthy grass- roots element too. We pay for the ounces in the ground and not for any explora- tion upside. We're doing some drilling in Finland and have some other projects around the world. RW: How many people does B2Gold employ? CJ: Globally, we have about 4,000 employees and about 6,000 including contractors. RW: Besides job training, does B2Gold have any corporate social responsibility programs? CJ: We like to think that we've been a leader in corporate social responsibility going back to Bema Gold. Some programs in Russia in the Bema years have continued in 2017. We have a US $20 million budget for CSR worldwide. We focus on the com- munities we're in and figure out what's in their best interest. For example, we've done a lot of work in education and reforesta- tion in Nicaragua and, at Fekola, there's a village that was close to the projected open pit boundary. The mining permit did not require that the village be moved but we figured out in consultation with the local people and government what are the most important projects with the best possible impacts in the region. For $20 million, we're moving the village and building a new modern one. Some of the villagers will be working at the mine in construction and some at the mine itself – over a thousand employees. Other villagers we are training are being paid to build their own homes and hook up their own solar panels. I think education's a huge issue. The better we can help educate the people in the regions we work in, the better oppor- tunities they will have in our industry and others. We have different initiatives in each country. We've had this expression here for a long time: "This is not your grandfather's mining company, it's much better than that." One of the ways it's not your grandfa-