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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

New York spot gold closed up 50 cents to $1,226.20 Thursday, rising slightly as oil continued its slide. The TSX Venture Exchange lost 4.41 points to 663.50 and the TSX Gold Index lost 1.92 points to 149.

Canadian gold miners ended the day lower. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM) dropped 24 cents to $28.30, Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) lost six cents to $13.64, Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI) lost 11 cents to $4.68 and Kinross Gold Corp. (K) slipped four cents to $3.52.

Clive Johnson's B2Gold Corp. (BTO) slipped two cents to $1.99 on 13.26 million shares. The company has started production at its fourth gold mine, Otjikoto, in Namibia. This new mine should provide 150,000 ounces of gold production next year at a low cash cost of around $500 an ounce. B2Gold owns 90 per cent of Otjikoto; the other 10 per cent belongs to a local "empowerment group," which usually means local blacks. Otjikoto is the second producing gold mine in the country. (The first, Navachab, belongs to QKR Corp., the private company that was rumoured to be considering a bid for Nevsun Resources Ltd. (NSU: $4.40) last month.) B2Gold's stock has fallen from $3.45 in March, thanks to declining gold prices, mill troubles and dewatering delays. The company still expects a record year of gold production, aiming for 385,000 ounces, down from an earlier-projected 425,000 ounces. In October, B2Gold merged with Australia's Papillion Resources Ltd. in a deal valued at $570-million. Papillion had just begun building a $300-million gold mine at its Fekola gold deposit in Mali, where all-in cash costs are pegged at a low $750. This makes Fekola B2Gold's next big development project. Its other two, Kiaka in Burkina Faso and Gramalote in Colombia, both became uneconomic when gold slipped under $1,350 an ounce.

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