B2Gold Provides Operations Update for the Goose Mine and Announces Drill Results at the Back River Gold District

B2Gold Corp. (BTO) released an operational update regarding its Goose Mine, detailing recent capital expenditures and production guidance. A new mobile crushing plant was commissioned in August 2026 at a cost of approximately $16 million. Since mid-August, the mobile crusher has averaged more than 3,000 tonnes per day, a pace the company describes as being in line with its plan.

Fixed-plant upgrades, including a ROM mass-flow bin, apron feeder, larger jaw crusher, and rock breaker, along with repairs to a fire-damaged conveyor, are scheduled for mid-October commissioning at a cost of roughly $11 million. These improvements will increase the fixed plant’s capacity to approximately 3,200 tonnes per day. Phase 2 upgrades, which involve larger cone crushers, surge bins, and conveyors, are targeted for the first half of 2027. This phase is currently up to 10 weeks behind schedule and aims for a design capacity of 4,000 tonnes per day.

B2Gold reiterated its 2026 guidance for the Goose Mine at 170,000 to 200,000 ounces. The company expects third-quarter production to be broadly in line with the first quarter, which yielded 42,876 ounces, while the fourth quarter is anticipated to be the strongest of the year.

In exploration news, B2Gold reported results from 28 holes totaling 7,255 meters at the Llama infill project, with all assays received. Using a 3.0 g/t cutoff, the core lengths included the following intercepts:

• 26GSE749Z2: 21.23 m @ 19.12 g/t from 463.85 m (capped 15.44)
• 26GSE749: 4.65 m @ 44.61 g/t from 473.50 m (capped 32.15)
• 26GSE746Z2: 10.60 m @ 21.72 g/t from 399.05 m (capped 16.79)
• 26GSE748Z1B: 3.53 m @ 44.03 g/t from 354.40 m (capped 31.06)
• 26GSE747Z2B: 4.95 m @ 10.59 g/t from 357.05 m

At the Goose Main project, 16 holes totaling 6,951 meters were drilled across the Nuvuyak and new Tattuk zones, with assays pending on 10 holes. Key intercepts included:

• 26GSE750Z2: 9.95 m @ 10.94 g/t from 1,195.90 m (Tattuk, described as a new discovery approximately 150 meters down the plunge of Nuvuyak)
• 26GSE750: 6.90 m @ 11.88 g/t from 1,048.30 m
• 26GSE753Z1: 7.60 m @ 8.74 g/t from 806.00 m

At the George Project’s Locale 1 infill, using a 4.0 g/t cutoff, the company reported the following intercepts:

• 26GRL232: 7.85 m @ 15.72 g/t
• 26GRL232Z1: 3.65 m @ 29.58 g/t
• 26GRL236: 6.75 m @ 19.49 g/t
• 26GRL239: 9.40 m @ 26.49 g/t (capped 18.62)
• 26GRL245Z1: 5.75 m @ 23.63 g/t

Regional exploration efforts included 2,279 meters in 15 holes across Dragon South, Oar, Rainbow Row, and Spoon, with assays pending. At Boot, 1,693 meters were drilled in nine holes, with assays pending on four. At Needle, approximately 450 meters were drilled; results to date in 2026 have not returned any significant values. Surface work included 2,927 till samples, 92 channel samples (up to 3.94 g/t over 6.3 m at Ailiruk), 1,059 rock samples, and 183 RAB holes.

B2Gold Corp. (BTO) is a producer with a market capitalization of approximately C$10.3 billion, 1,321 million shares outstanding, and projected 2025 production of ~980 koz and revenue of ~US$3.06 billion. At this scale, drill results typically influence the equity only if they demonstrably change reserves, mine life, or net asset value.

Guidance remains unchanged. Goose is targeted at 170,000–200,000 oz for 2026, while the consolidated guidance of 820,000–920,000 oz was established on 6 August. The crusher narrative, involving a mobile plant for $16M with Phase 1 reaching 3,200 tpd by mid-October and Phase 2 reaching 4,000 tpd in H1 2027, is a restatement of the Q2 release and Q2 MD&A rather than new information. There is no new guidance, cost revision, or reserve change associated with this update.

There are no resource or reserve changes. The Llama and Locale 1 holes support resource conversion and increase confidence in Inferred Mineral Resources. Conversion of Inferred to Indicated resources is a process credited when a new technical report is filed, not when assays are released. Tattuk is a new zone with only one hole, so it cannot be added to a resource estimate on this data.

The equity’s price action has been driven by other factors. The stock jumped from C$5.74 to C$7.03 (+22%) on 7 August 2026, following the Menankoto exploitation permit and Q2 results. This movement reflected a permitting and free-cash-flow story, including prepay and collar contracts concluding in December 2026, rather than a Back River exploration story. Consequently, today’s drill content is priced against an anchor that was never embedded, meaning there is no "priced for repetition" disappointment to deliver.

The current results show gram-metres materially lower than the March best (328–406 g·m vs 686 g·m), but these are infill holes at or above resource grade. The release confirms a high-grade underground resource and opens one new deep zone. Analysts estimate this may result in a 1–3% move on the day.

B2Gold Corp., a Vancouver-headquartered international gold producer, operates four mines: the Fekola Complex in Mali (80% Fekola Mine / 65% Fekola Regional), Masbate in the Philippines (100% project basis), Otjikoto in Namibia (90%), and Goose/Back River in Nunavut (100%). The Goose Mine reached commercial production on 2 October 2025. Resource estimates for the Goose Claims Group include 10.9 Mt @ 6.79 g/t Probable (2.38 moz), 15.91 Mt @ 7.40 g/t Indicated (3.79 moz), and 9.31 Mt @ 7.63 g/t Inferred (2.28 moz). The George Claims Group contains 1.66 Mt @ 7.89 g/t Indicated (0.42 moz) and 4.19 Mt @ 8.98 g/t Inferred (1.21 moz, including Locale 1 at 1.15 Mt @ 10.25 g/t for 0.38 moz).

For 2026, the company provided guidance for consolidated production of 820,000–920,000 oz, with cash costs of $1,155–$1,280/oz produced and AISC of $2,370–$2,550/oz sold. Specific mine guidance includes Goose at 170,000–200,000 oz, Fekola at 390,000–420,000 oz, Masbate at 180,000–200,000 oz, and Otjikoto at 80,000–100,000 oz.

Prior-period financial data not disclosed in today’s release shows H1 2026 (six months to 30 June 2026) revenue of US$1.95 billion, net income of US$625 million, and EPS of $0.46. Q2 2026 revenue was US$789 million, with net income of US$420 million and EPS of $0.31. At 30 June 2026, the company reported a book value per share of US$3.03, cash of US$287 million, total debt of US$456 million, and a fully available $800M RCF. FY2025 revenue was US$3.06 billion, with net income of US$427 million.

Capital returns included a $0.02/share quarterly dividend ($0.08 annualised), 35 million shares repurchased for $172 million in H1 2026, and a renewed NCIB authorising up to 132.7 million shares. Strategic investments include holdings in Snowline Gold (~9.6%), AuMEGA Metals (~9.9%), Prospector Metals (~19.5%), and Versamet Royalties (~28.0%), with a portfolio value of approximately $575 million per the investor brief.

The development pipeline includes the Fekola Regional project, which received a permit on 7 August 2026 and is expected to produce over 150 koz/yr from 2028 through the mid-2030s. The Antelope underground project at Otjikoto has a PEA indicating 65 koz/yr, an after-tax NPV of $131M, AISC of $1,095/oz, and pre-production capex of $105M. The Gramalote project feasibility study outlines 177 koz/yr production, an NPV of $941M at $2,500/oz, and pre-production capex of $740M.