Mr. Clive Johnson reports

B2GOLD PROVIDES CONSTRUCTION UPDATE FOR THE GOOSE PROJECT IN NUNAVUT, CANADA; CONSTRUCTION ON BUDGET AND ON TRACK TO POUR FIRST GOLD IN Q1 2025

B2Gold Corp. has provided a construction update on the Goose project, located in the 100-per-cent-owned Back River gold district in Nunavut, Canada. B2Gold acquired the Back River gold district as part of the acquisition of Sabina Gold & Silver in April, 2023.

Goose project update highlights:

• Goose project on schedule for first gold pour in Q1 2025: All long lead items for the 2024 construction season have been received at B2Gold's freight consolidation points, prepped for ship transport and currently the 2023 sealift is under way, which includes delivery of 24 million litres of diesel fuel.
• Construction capital expenditures remain in line with June, 2023, estimate of $800-million: The updated construction capital expenditure by B2Gold of $800-million, plus an additional $90-million for accelerating underground development, remains in line with B2Gold's last estimate as of June, 2023. To date, capital expenditures are in line with the company's expectations, with approximately $530-million total cash spent on the project to date (by B2Gold and Sabina).
• Accelerated underground mining plan adopted to increase average gold production in the first five years to over 300,000 ounces per year: Underground development at the Umwelt deposit and open-pit mining at the Echo deposit is progressing. The Echo open pit is scheduled to be mined out and stockpiled prior to process plant commissioning in order to provide tailings storage capacity.
• Concrete and steel work in the mill area progressing ahead of schedule: Erection of structural steel has commenced, with building cladding to begin shortly. The company expects the ball mill to be set in place in December, 2023, ahead of schedule, which significantly derisks the construction schedule for mill completion and first gold pour in Q1 2025.
• Phase 1 of the accommodation complex opened in July, 2023: Phase 1 of the accommodation complex includes 310 beds at the permanent site location, which, together with the 160 beds located at the existing exploration camp, provide the necessary accommodation to support accelerated construction, mining and exploration activities.
• Earthworks necessary to extend airstrip to be completed in September, 2023: Planned extension of the airstrip to 5,000 feet will allow large-capacity, fully loaded passenger planes to land at the Goose project during the 2024 construction campaign.
• Winter ice road preparations are well under way: The request for proposal process has closed for the selection of the winter ice road constructor and a decision is expected to be made before the end of September. The contractor will be managed by B2Gold's experienced ice road construction team. The execution strategy for the 2024 ice road season involves an earlier start to the road construction than previous years, which contributes to derisking the trucking season. In addition, the ice road construction will begin from the middle and work outward in each direction, which should enable the ice road to be completed earlier than in prior seasons.
• 11,000 metres of drilling over 44 drill holes have been completed to date in 2023 at Back River: The drill program at the Goose project has focused on testing the Umwelt and Llama deposits down plunge for resource confirmation and resource expansion, as well as various regional targets. The drill program is anticipated to run through December, 2023.

Goose project capital expenditures

On June 23, 2023, the company announced an initial construction capital expenditure estimate of $800-million, which was in line with B2Gold expectations since the Sabina acquisition announcement and reflects scope changes to further optimize the Goose project as well as industry inflation. B2Gold has updated the construction budget to derisk the project and construct a reliable and low-operating-cost mine for the arctic. In addition, the company has made the decision to accelerate underground mining development to increase annual gold production over the first five years of the mine plan, which entails mining of the complete Umwelt crown pillar. The cost to accelerate underground mining is estimated at an additional $90-million for a total project expenditure of $890-million.

Goose project infrastructure

Goose project site overview -- September, 2023

Marine laydown area

The purchasing of materials and supplies needed to support the 2024 construction campaign has been completed and all materials have been provided to the ports for the 2023 sealift. Following the acquisition of Sabina, the Marine laydown area (MLA) located on Bathurst Inlet, Nunavut, was reorganized to maximize space for the 2023 sealift that is currently under way. Additionally, the fuel tank containment area at the MLA was enlarged to facilitate increased storage. The MLA has an approximately 70-person camp, a 3,000-foot gravel airstrip and heliport, and over 65,000 square metres of outdoor storage area.

The 2023 sealift is currently under way with an expected shipping volume of 70,000 metres cubed of dry cargo and 24 million litres of arctic-grade diesel fuel. As at Aug. 31, 2023, the MLA has received its first two ships and three barges for offload as part of the 2023 sealift, with four additional ships en route carrying materials to the MLA from ports located globally.

Accommodation complex

Phase 1 of the accommodation complex opened in July, 2023, including sleeping quarters, office area, medical centre, gymnasium, kitchens and water treatment. Phase 1 of the accommodation complex includes 310 beds at the permanent site location, which, together with the 160 beds located at the existing exploration camp, provide the necessary accommodations to support accelerated construction, mining and exploration activities to ensure an on-time project completion. Phase 2 of the accommodation complex will further expand the permanent camp. Phase 2 materials have already started to arrive at the MLA and are ready for transport to the Goose project site and will be integrated into the complex prior to the 2024 summer construction season.

Concrete and steel work

Concrete and steel work in the mill area are progressing ahead of schedule. The first concrete pour was completed in July, 2023, with approximately 30 per cent of the 2023 concrete foundations and pads complete within the mill area, power house and truck shop as of Aug. 31, 2023. Over two million kilograms of structural steel and approximately 500,000 kilograms of plate steel have arrived at site. Erection of the structural steel has commenced for the mill area, power house and truck shop, and cladding will begin in the near term. Enclosure of these buildings will allow for work to continue through the colder months and remain on schedule. Additionally, it is expected that the ball mill will be set in place in December, 2023, ahead of schedule, allowing the focus for the start of 2024 to shift to piping.

Winter ice road

The 163-kilometre winter ice road between MLA and the Goose project will operate between February and end of April, depending on temperatures. In 2023, over 800 loads were completed along the ice road. Work on the ice road is expected to start in December, 2023. Ice road construction will begin from the middle and work outward in each direction, allowing for completion of the majority of the road before the sea ice freezes, as the sea ice freezes last. This construction strategy should enable the ice road to be completed earlier than in prior seasons.

Airstrip

Earthworks necessary to extend the airstrip are expected to be completed in September, 2023. Planned extension of the airstrip to 5,000 feet will allow large-capacity, fully loaded passenger planes to land at the Goose project during the 2024 construction campaign. B2Gold expects that this will make employee and contractor rotations and supplying the project site from Edmonton significantly easier and will further derisk the project.

Goose project mine development

B2Gold made the decision to accelerate underground mining development to increase average gold production in the first five years to over 300,000 ounces per year. Mining development is progressing at the Echo open pit, which will be mined out prior to process plant commissioning in order to provide tailings storage capacity. Underground mining has exceeded 1,300 metres of horizontal development and the initial ventilation raise is expected to be completed in October, 2023.

Underground mining is scheduled to mine and backfill the full Umwelt pillar earlier in the mine life than in prior mine plans, which is expected to contribute over 150,000 ounces of gold production to the life-of-mine plan. Geotechnical and mine design and engineering continue and are expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2023. The underground development is currently less than 500 metres away from commencing ore production at the Umwelt crown pillar.

Goose project update life-of-mine plan

The B2Gold technical team continues to analyze ways to optimize the Goose project life-of-mine plan. Areas of optimization currently being studied include:

• Mining of the Umwelt crown pillar:
  • The crown pillar between the Umwelt open pit and underground mining areas contains over 150,000 ounces of gold and was only partially included in prior production schedules. Geotechnical and mine design and engineering are under way with the goal of mining and backfilling the crown pillar prior to completion of the Umwelt open pit.
• Underground mining method:
  • The B2Gold engineering team has determined that most of the Umwelt underground mine can be mined effectively with long-hole stoping, which is expected to reduce costs and increase ore production rates.
• Renewable power generation:
  • The Sabina team previously identified the potential for wind power generation, and studies are in progress by B2Gold to identify the best solution and to quantify the potential operational and cost impact to the Goose project.

B2Gold expects to complete an updated Goose project life-of-mine plan in the second half of 2023.

Back River exploration update

In the second quarter of 2023, a significant exploration program was approved at the Back River gold district for 2023. B2Gold has approved a $20-million (U.S.) exploration budget for the balance of 2023 to complete approximately 27,000 metres of drilling. Drilling will be focused in proximity to existing deposits at the Goose project, as well as following up on regional targets identified at the George, Boulder, Boot and Del projects.

Drilling at the Goose project began in early August with two drill rigs. By the end of August, 2023, 5,000 metres of drilling had been completed over 18 drill holes, with five drill rigs currently operating. The objectives for the drilling program at Goose include:

• Select drill holes for a reagent optimization metallurgic sample;
• Test the Umwelt and Llama deposits down plunge for resource confirmation and resource expansion;
• Test regional targets at the Goose project that were developed based on structural modelling and geophysical reprocessing.

The drill program at the Goose project is expected to last until December, 2023.

Twenty-six drill holes and 6,009 metres of drilling were completed at the George project. The program was designed to test several targets at George over a strike length of 10 kilometres. Assay results are still pending for some holes due to wildfire related issues in Yellowknife, which affected logistics and access to the prep lab.

About B2Gold Corp.

B2Gold is a low-cost international senior gold producer headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Founded in 2007, today, B2Gold has operating gold mines in Mali, Namibia and the Philippines, a mine under construction in northern Canada, and numerous development and exploration projects in various countries including Mali, Colombia and Finland. B2Gold forecasts total consolidated gold production of between one million and 1.08 million ounces in 2023.

Qualified person

Bill Lytle, senior vice-president and chief operating officer, a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, has approved the scientific and technical information related to operations matters contained in this news release.

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