For the full year 2022, B2 Gold’s Otjikoto Mine in Namibia produced 161,614 ounces of gold, slightly below the revised guidance range of 165,000 to 175,000 ounces, the Gold miner has announced.
The mine produced 60,068 ounces of gold in the fourth quarter of 2022, which included a monthly production record of 30,493 ounces of gold in December 2022. Quarterly gold production was slightly lower than anticipated mainly due to the previously disclosed delayed ramp-up of ore production from the Wolfshag underground mine.
“To start 2023, Wolfshag underground ore production rates are at expected levels, open pit high grade ore stockpile balances are well buffered, and mined ore tonnage and grade continue to reconcile well with Otjikoto’s resource model,” the Gold miner said.
Holistically however, the Vancouver-based miner has scaled a new quarterly production record, with fourth-quarter output of 367 880 oz, helped by a record performance at its Fekola mine, in Mali, a strong operational quarter at Masbate, in the Philippines and the ramp-up of the Wolfshag underground mine at Otjikoto.
For the full year, the company achieved the upper end of its 2022 guidance with output of 1.03-million ounces.