Gold miner, B2Gold has said that a 39 000m drill program has been planned to define and expand the Antelope deposit with an initial mineral resource estimate at the deposit anticipated by the third quarter of 2024.
The miner revealed this last week highlighting positive exploration drilling results from the Antelope deposit at the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia.
The Antelope deposit, comprised of the Springbok Zone, the Oryx Zone, and a possible third structure, Impala, subject to further confirmatory drilling, is located approximately three kilometers south of the Otjikoto Phase 5 open pit. The Antelope deposit has the potential to be developed as an underground mining operation, which could complement the expected processing of stockpiles at the Otjikoto mill from 2026 through 2031.
“20,715 meters in 37 drill holes were completed at the Antelope deposit in 2023, with a plan to nearly double the meters drilled in 2024. The Antelope deposit was discovered in 2022 following deep drill testing on three-dimensional models of magnetic inversion data;
“The 2024 exploration budget for Otjikoto is US$9 million, focused predominantly on the Antelope deposit, the largest drill program since the definition of the Wolfshag discovery in 2012,” the miner said.
Open pit operations at Otjikoto are anticipated to conclude in 2025, while underground mining operations at Wolfshag will continue through 2026.
Current gold production estimates at Otjikoto are expected to be between 180,000 to 200,000 ounces in 2024 and 2025, just under 100,000 ounces in 2026, and stepping down to sub 50,000 ounces from 2026 through 2031 during the processing of low-grade stockpiles.
“Underground mining of the Antelope deposit has the potential to supplement the processing of stockpiles through 2031, with the goal of increasing gold production levels to over 100,000 ounces per year from 2026 through 2031,” added the miner.
2023 Otjikoto Exploration Program
In 2023, B2Gold completed a US$3.3 million exploration program in Namibia, with exploration drilling focused on the ML169 mining license, which surrounds Otjikoto. A total of 22,058 m of drilling was completed in 2023, the majority of which targeted the high-grade gold mineralization of the Antelope deposit.
The Antelope deposit was discovered in 2022, following deep drill testing on three-dimensional models of magnetic inversion data. The Antelope deposit is comprised of up to three separate mineralized structures, of which the southernmost Springbok Zone has been defined by 100 m by 50 m spaced drilling, over a strike length of approximately 800 m. Mineralization has a dip extent of approximately 150 m and is between 7 m to 10 m thick.
Northeast, along strike of the Springbok Zone, a similar type of high-grade mineralization has been intersected in the Oryx Zone, which appears to represent a second shoot, stacked stratigraphically above the Springbok Zone. Overall, the Antelope deposit mineralization has been intersected by drilling over a combined strike length of approximately 1,500 m. As the significant mineralization is intersected from approximately 450 m down hole, the Antelope deposit is being evaluated for potential underground development.
Mineralisation
Mineralization of the Antelope deposit is characterized by quartz-pyrrhotite veins, which have been overprinted by deformation focused along two main marble beds that serve as major stratigraphic markers in the Otjikoto stratigraphy. The shoot-like geometry of the Antelope deposit mineralization derives, in part, from the thickening of quartz-pyrrhotite-gold mineralization in the hinge zones of centimeter-to meter-scale folds, a structural control that is well documented at Otjikoto. Mineralized shoots plunge shallowly north-northeast, suggesting a subtle inflection in the stratigraphy that hosts Otjikoto, where mineralized zones plunge shallowly south-southwest. Mineralization in each of the respective shoots remains open along the plunge direction.
“The mineralized zones are associated with a positive magnetic response that extends southward from the Otjikoto open pit as a continuous linear feature for over 4 km. Testing the continuity of this magnetic feature and its possible connection with the southernmost extent of ore in the Phase 5 open pit at Otjikoto will be a significant part of the 2024 exploration program,” further stated the miner.