B2Gold (TSX: BTO; NYSE-A: BTG) expects a market rerating after achieving commercial production this week at Goose in Nunavut and as it works to secure a key permit in Mali, founder, president and CEO Clive Johnson said.
Despite record gold prices, producers have lagged in their equity valuations and due to investor wariness about Mali and a “show-me” stance until Goose reaches steady production, Johnson said. Besides adding new production to the portfolio, the executive is bullish on the company’s organic growth prospects.
“We don’t need to go and buy it. We don’t need to do M&A,” Johnson said during the Mining Forum Americas in Colorado Springs, Colo. He noted the company expects to book about 750,000 oz. of potential new annual production as projects come online. “That’s what I like about the story.”
At Back River in Nunavut, B2Gold poured first gold on June 30 after commissioning work on the crushing circuit and other systems. The mine is forecast to produce 80,000–110,000 oz. this year before moving toward about 300,000 oz. annually from 2026 to 2031.
B2Gold expects to produce roughly 1 million oz. of gold this year. Growth is mainly driven by Goose, the Fekola Regional feed in Mali – averaging about 180,000 oz. annually from early next year, subject to permits – and the Gramalote project in Colombia. An updated study pegs Gramalote’s annual output at about 227,000 oz. over its first five years. An underground addition at Otjikoto’s Antelope deposit in Namibia from 2028 would further smooth the profile.
Watch the full interview below with The Northern Miner’s Western Editor, Henry Lazenby.
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