Mining News
B2Gold acquires AngloGold Ashanti's 50% stake in Gramalote for up to $60M
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(Kitco News) - B2Gold (TSX: BTO) (NYSE: BTG) announced Monday that it has entered into a purchase agreement with AngloGold Ashanti to acquire AngloGold’s 50% stake in the Gramalote gold project, located in Colombia, for up to $60 million.
Upon completion of the transaction, B2Gold will own 100% of the Gramalote project. Under the terms of the transaction, the purchase price will be paid in cash and contingent upon certain milestones.
Gramalote is located approximately 230 km northwest of Bogota and 120 km northeast of Medellin, the regional capital of the Department of Antioquia situated in central Colombia.
Historically, the Gramalote project has been advanced under a joint venture between B2Gold and AngloGold, which has led to analyzing the project on a larger scale basis to provide meaningful production growth to both companies.
The feasibility study has been completed for Gramalote in 2022 and both partners have determined that the project does not meet their investment thresholds for development of the project. The partners commenced a joint sales process for the Gramalote project in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The company said the transaction consolidates the Gramalote project under one owner, providing additional optionality to analyze "lower capital intensity, higher-return development opportunities for the project."
On top of that, B2Gold will add 2.11 million gold ounces of indicated mineral resources and 0.74 million gold ounces of inferred mineral resources to the company’s consolidated mineral resource base.
"The structure of the transaction immediately adds to B2Gold’s consolidated mineral resource base and significantly increases the company’s exposure to the upside from the potential development of the Gramalote project, while still providing ongoing exposure to AngloGold through the contingent payments, which make up the majority of the purchase price," B2Gold said in a statement.
Importantly, the company added that its in-house projects team to commence work on various smaller scale project development plans, with the goal of identifying a higher-return project than the previously contemplated joint venture development plan.
B2Gold expects that the transaction, which is subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions, will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2023.
B2Gold is an 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 1,000,000 and 1,080,000 ounces in 2023.
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