Past year: ▲ 16%(5.25 – 8.38 CAD)
Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
21 May 2015debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Signed a US$350 million revolving credit facility with a syndicate led by HSBC and including Scotiabank, Societe Generale and ING, with an accordion allowing an increase to US$450 million. Availability was still subject to customary closing conditions at this point; the facility closed alongside the Fekola feasibility study in June 2015.
13 Mar 2015production update▲ GoodMajor
Record 2014 production of 384,003 ounces, with a record fourth quarter of 111,804 ounces at US$646 cash operating cost and US$946 all-in sustaining cost, on a realised gold price of US$1,193. Otjikoto reached commercial production on 28 February 2015, and 2015 was guided about 35% higher at lower unit cost.
10 Mar 2015production update▲ GoodMajor
Otjikoto reached commercial production on 28 February 2015, ahead of schedule and above budget: 8,587 ounces in January against a plan of 8,267 and 10,228 in February against 8,863, helped by mill availability of 89.6% against a budgeted 70% and throughput 34% above plan.
11 Dec 2014production update▲ GoodMajor
Poured first gold at Otjikoto in Namibia a week ahead of schedule, about twenty months after the ground-breaking, on 1.3 million cubic metres of earth fill, 20,000 cubic metres of concrete and over 3 million man-hours. Only the second gold mine in the country.
23 Sept 2014business combination● NeutralMajor
The Federal Court of Australia gave final approval to the Papillon scheme, with implementation and share issue expected on 3 October 2014.
15 Sept 2014business combination● Neutral
B2Gold shareholders approved the Papillon merger, 99.9% in favour on an 80.3% turnout, with the Papillon vote to follow in Perth. Guidance at the time was 395,000-420,000 ounces for 2014 and about 540,000 for 2015.
13 June 2014drilling result▲ GoodMajor
Otjikoto construction stayed on budget for a late-2014 start, with all major excavations done, over 16,000 cubic metres of concrete poured and about 1,000 people on site, and more high-grade Wolfshag drill results alongside. The feasibility case is about 141,000 ounces a year at US$525 cash cost for five years and 112,000 ounces at US$689 over the mine life.
3 June 2014business combination● NeutralMajor
Agreed to merge with Papillon Resources at 0.661 B2Gold shares per Papillon share, about A$1.72 each and roughly US$570 million, to acquire the Fekola project in Mali. B2Gold noted its own share price had fallen since the approach, cutting the implied premium from 36.5% to 20.6%.
13 Mar 2014resource reserve update● NeutralMajor
The Gramalote preliminary economic assessment in Colombia, on the 51% AngloGold Ashanti and 49% B2Gold joint venture, outlined a 14-year open pit producing 4.445 million ounces in total, 317,500 a year at US$664 cash cost, for US$1,176 million of pre-production capital. At a US$1,351 gold price the after-tax return was only 11.5% with a 4.8-year payback.
23 Jan 2014resource reserve update▲ GoodMajor
Declared a maiden inferred resource for the Wolfshag zone at Otjikoto of 6.8 million tonnes at 3.2 g/t for 703,000 ounces, more than twice the 1.42 g/t average grade of the main Otjikoto pit it sits beside. The zone was traced 1,600 metres down plunge and found only during 2013 drilling, while the mine itself was still under construction.
20 Dec 2013business combination● NeutralMajor
Closed the Volta acquisition, issuing 23.33 million B2Gold shares plus 2.08 million on options. B2Gold now has about 675 million shares outstanding with former Volta holders at roughly 3.4% fully diluted, and owns 81% of Kiaka in Burkina Faso.
18 Dec 2013business combination● Neutral
Volta shareholders approved the arrangement with 99.3% of votes cast in favour, leaving only a court order and regulatory approvals before closing.
15 Nov 2013business combination● Neutral
Signed the definitive arrangement agreement for Volta after confirmatory due diligence, on the terms announced in October, with a Volta shareholder vote set for 17 December. Kiaka was described as holding 4.86 million ounces of measured and indicated resources in 153.3 million tonnes at 0.99 g/t.
5 Nov 2013drilling result▲ Good
A further 2013 Otjikoto drilling update: the year's programme totalled 134 holes for 23,602 metres, 80 of them into Wolfshag, with infill work on the northern kilometre of the 1.6 kilometre zone aimed at a maiden inferred resource. Construction stayed on schedule and budget.
28 Oct 2013business combination● NeutralMajor
Agreed to buy Volta Resources for 0.15 B2Gold shares per Volta share, about C$0.42 each and roughly US$63 million in total, a 106% premium to the previous close. The prize is 81% of the Kiaka project in Burkina Faso, which a 2012 pre-feasibility put at about 340,000 ounces a year for ten years.
23 Aug 2013debt financing● NeutralMajor
Closed the convertible note issue at US$258.75 million after the initial purchasers took the full US$33.75 million over-allotment on 20 August. The notes carry 3.25% to 1 October 2018 and convert at about US$3.93 a share.
20 Aug 2013debt financing● Neutral
Priced the US$225 million convertible notes at par with a 3.25% coupon and an initial conversion rate of 254.2912 shares per US$1,000, about US$3.93 a share.
19 Aug 2013debt financing● NeutralMajor
Launched a private placement of US$225 million of convertible senior subordinated notes due 2018 for general corporate purposes, with a 30-day over-allotment option for a further US$33.75 million.
8 Aug 2013resource reserve update▲ Good
Second-quarter production of 82,083 ounces took the half year to 168,848 ounces at cash costs of US$732 an ounce against a US$745 budget, and Masbate reserves were raised from 3.0 to 3.23 million ounces at a better 0.97 g/t. B2Gold also said it had tested the carrying value of its mines at 30 June and found no write-down needed, at a time when much of the sector was impairing.
17 July 2013drilling result▲ GoodMajor
Drilling at the newly found Wolfshag zone beside the Otjikoto pit in Namibia returned high grades, including 18.85m at 5.84 g/t and 13.55m at 6.83 g/t, from 107 holes for 22,194 metres year to date. B2Gold presented it as potential to expand production and mine life at a project already under construction for a fourth-quarter 2014 start.
