Name of the Mine
Fekola mine.

Location  
South-west Mali, on the border between Mali and Senegal.

Mine Owner/s  
B2Gold.

Brief Description  
Fekola is an openpit gold mine and B2Gold’s fifth and biggest mine. The mine incorporates the Cardinal deposit and Anaconda Area.

Brief History  
Several companies have completed exploration activities in the general Fekola area over the years, including Société Nationale de Recherches et d'Exploitation des Ressources Minières de Mali, Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, the Guefest Company, Western African Gold and Exploration, Randgold Resources, Central African Gold and Papillon Resources.

B2Gold acquired the Fekola project through a merger with Papillon in October 2014.

The company announced on September 25, 2017, that it had completed construction of the Fekola mill and started ore processing, more than three months ahead of the original construction schedule and on budget.

The first gold pour at the Fekola mine took place on October 7, 2017, and the mine achieved commercial production on November 30, 2017.

Primary Metals/Minerals  
Gold.

Secondary Metals/Minerals  
None stated.

Geology/Mineralisation  
The Fekola deposit, Cardinal Zone and Anaconda Area are hosted in Birimian Supergroup rocks within the eastern portion of the Paleo-Proterozoic Kédougou–Kéniéba inlier, which covers eastern Senegal and western Mali. They are considered examples of orogenic-style gold deposits.

Reserves  
Total proven and probable reserves as at December 31, 2021, were estimated at 62-million tonnes grading 1.86 g/t gold.

Resources  
Total indicated resources as at December 31, 2021, were estimated at 143.2-million tonnes grading 1.42 g/t gold. Inferred mineral resources were estimated at 92.8-million tonnes grading 1.15 g/t gold.

Mining Method  
Conventional openpit owner-operated mine and plant.

Major Infrastructure/Equipment  
A process plant, a tailings storage facility, an accommodation camp, roads, an airstrip, a mine services area, an openpit, ore stockpiles and waste rock storage facilities.

The mine uses a conventional flowsheet, comprising single-stage primary crushing; a semiautogenous primary grinding mill, with pebble crushing and a secondary ball mill; leach-feed thickening, with thickener overflow treated through a carbon-in-column circuit; agitated leaching followed by carbon-in-pulp adsorption; elution, electrowinning and gold recovery to doré; and cyanide destruction, tailings thickening and disposal circuits.

Prospects  
Preliminary planning by B2Gold has shown that a pit situated on the Anaconda Area could provide saprolite material to the Fekola mill, increasing the ore processed and yearly gold production from the mill, subject to obtaining all necessary permits and the completion of a final mine plan. This could add an average of 80 000 oz/y to 100 000 oz/y to Fekola's gold production. 

Contact Details
B2Gold
Tel +1 604 681 8371
Email  investor@b2gold.com
Website https://www.b2gold.com/

Sources
B2Gold. B2Gold reports strong Q4 and full-year 2021 results, record annual total gold production of 1 047 414 oz within 2021 cost guidance and generating strong 2021 operating cashflows of $724 m (February 22, 2022).
B2Gold. Annual Information Form (March 30, 2022).
B2Gold. Website: https://www.b2gold.com/ [accessed: April 13, 2022].