Gold producer B2Gold’s Mali-based subsidiary has been granted a new exploration permit covering the same perimeter as the Menankoto permit, which together with the Bantako North permit comprises the Anaconda area, located 20 km from its Fekola mine.

With the receipt of the Menankoto permit, exploration at the site is expected to start by February 15, with two rigs being deployed initially, thereby building on the $27-million that B2Gold has spent to date on the Menankoto permit.

Additional drill rigs will be deployed shortly thereafter.

Exploration at Menankoto is intended to focus on upgrading and expanding the existing saprolite mineral resource estimate of 21.6-million tonnes at a grade of 1.11 g/t for a total of 770 000 oz for the Anaconda area.

An updated mineral resource estimate based on the results from the extensive 2020 and 2021 infill and exploration drill programme is expected in the first quarter of this year and will feed into engineering studies currently under way.

This updated mineral resource estimate will also include an initial mineral resource estimate for the sulphide material below the saprolite.

In addition, B2Gold has completed environmental and social studies to support permitting efforts.

Going forward this year, B2Gold plans to continue drilling to infill and extend the saprolite resource area and to follow up on the sulphide mineralisation at the Anaconda area, including the Mamba, Adder and several other targets below the saprolite mineralisation.

The company notes that the “good grade and width combinations” at the Anaconda area continue to provide a strong indication of the potential for Fekola-style south plunging bodies of sulphide mineralisation, which remain open down plunge.

The potential to transport material from the nearby Anaconda area by truck later this year is currently being developed and is not included in Fekola’s production guidance; however, the Fekola mine has not included the mineral resources from the Anaconda area in the current Fekola life-of-mine plan.

Preliminary planning by B2Gold demonstrates that a pit situated on the Anaconda area could provide saprolite material to be trucked to, and fed into, the Fekola mill later this year, thereby increasing the ore processed and annual gold production from the Fekola mill, with the potential to add an average of 80 000 oz/y to 100 000 oz/y to Fekola’s production.

A total of $33-million has been budgeted for this year to facilitate Phase 1 saprolite mining at the Anaconda area, while B2Gold plans to start a Phase II study when the updated mineral resource estimate on the sulphide material becomes available and based on 2022 exploration drilling results to review the project economics of trucking sulphide material to the Fekola mill, as compared to constructing another standalone mill near the Anaconda area.

This additional feed from the Anaconda area to the Fekola mine has the potential to provide immediate value to B2Gold and the State of Mali – B2Gold’s 20% partner at the Fekola mine, and communities near the project.

CARDINAL ZONE UPDATE
In 2021, B2Gold continued exploring the Cardinal zone as part of its $27-million exploration programme in Mali, with concurrent drilling programmes by the Fekola exploration and mine geology teams completing more than 50 000 m of reverse circulation and diamond drilling.

This was done towards the conversion of inferred mineral resources to the indicated category, for input to mine planning and the expansion of the known resource area, which remains open at depth.

The updated mineral resource estimate upgraded 430 000 oz from inferred to indicated, after the initial inferred resource estimate was 640 000 oz of gold in 13-million tonnes of ore at a grade of 1.54 g/t of gold.

The update provides a more robust model for mine planning, while also increasing the total inferred mineral resource estimate to 740 000 oz – an increase of 100 000 oz to the initial inferred mineral resource estimate.

The Cardinal zone comprises multiple, sub-parallel, west-dipping shear zones with an average width of about 10 m for the main Cardinal zone.

The 2021 exploration programme shows that the Cardinal/FMZ system persists at depth, with drillhole FKD 610 revealing gold mineralisation grading 2.69 g/t over 21.4 m, from 253.8 m; and including grading of 5.31 g/t for 9.5 m.

Drillhole FKD 594 found gold mineralisation grading 3.96 g/t over 20.5 m.