Clive Johnson, President/CEO of B2Gold Corp. (TSE:BTO), Presents at Canaccord Genuity Global Resources Conference

October 17, 2014

B2Gold Corp. (TSE:BTO) is on track to produce close to 400,000 ounces of gold this year, with projections more than doubling that production by 2017, according to Clive Johnson, the company’s President/CEO. He was speaking at the Canaccord Genuity Global Resources Conference 2014 in New York, held at the New York Place Hotel.

The intermediate gold producer has three operating mines, and is scheduled to have its Otjikoto, Namibia mine come on line in Q4 of this year. “I think we’re the fastest-growing gold producer in the world,” said Johnson.

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Johnson said the company is in “a very strong financial position and, by the end of the year, should have $100 million in the bank,” thanks to significant cash flow from operations. “Next year, our costs will drop even more,” Johnson predicted, and noted the company has strong access to capital.

B2Gold’s Otjikoto Mine will begin production in December, with projections of 140,000 ounces of gold produced. “We’re actually looking at expanding the mine in the first quarter of next year,” Johnson said, upping potential production estimates to 150,000 ounces.

B2Gold’s 2014 first-half highlights saw gold production of 182,007 ounces, an increase of 13% over the same period in 2013. That reflected consolidated cash operating costs of $675 per ounce of gold, $52 per ounce lower than in the same period last year, and $22 per ounce below budget.

Johnson said that 2014 guidance remains unchanged. That guidance projected gold production from all operations of 395,000-420,000 ounces at an average operating cash cost of $667-$695 per ounce. Projected all-in sustaining costs are estimated at approximately $1025-$1125 per ounce.

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