B2Gold up on higher-than-expected production – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 12, 2017)

http://www.mining.com/

Shares in B2Gold Corp (TSX:BTO; NYSE: BTG) were up on Friday after the mid-tier miner reported better-than expected gold production for the third quarter of the year.

The Canadian company logged an output of 135,628 ounces of gold, which included 6,340 ounces of pre-commercial production from its newly built Fekola mine in Mali.

Consolidated output exceeded the original budget by 2% (or 2,254 ounces) and reforecast production by 15% (or 17,372 ounces), which the company attributed to “very strong” operational performances of both its Masbate mine in the Philippines and the Otjikoto operation in Namibia as well as the successful early start-up of the Fekola mine in September.

The Vancouver-based miner said it expects production of between 50,000 and 55,000 ounces of gold from its new mine in south-western Mali to bring total production for 2017 to between 530,000 and 570,000 ounces of gold.

B2Gold, which poured its first gold at its Fekola mine earlier this week, expects to ramp up to commercial production at the operation by the end of the fourth quarter.

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