B2Gold Corp Q2 2021 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Joshua Mark Wolfson - RBC Capital Markets, Research Division - Analyst : Just a quick question maybe on capital allocation. Obviously, this quarter was not necessarily representative of what the go-forward cash expectations are going to be. But with second half of the year being positioned much better and even beyond that with Gramalote, what's the current thinking in terms of dividend policy and what the excess cash is going to be allocated towards? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. AUGUST 05, 2021 / 5:00PM, BTO.TO - Q2 2021 B2Gold Corp Earnings Call

Question: Joshua Mark Wolfson - RBC Capital Markets, Research Division - Analyst : Got it. And then maybe if I could tuck in one more just for Otjikoto. With the sequencing in the second half of the year, is there any sort of key difference between third and fourth quarter? Or is there going to be just a real step-wise change now with the -- just the great sequencing at bottom of the pit?

Question: Joshua Mark Wolfson - RBC Capital Markets, Research Division - Analyst : Okay. And that -- how long does that sequence go for? Like does it go past year-end 2021? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. AUGUST 05, 2021 / 5:00PM, BTO.TO - Q2 2021 B2Gold Corp Earnings Call

Question: Don DeMarco - National Bank Financial, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : My first question is for Bill. So Bill, there's a lot of moving parts at Fekola. We've got low-grade stockpiles just on Q2. You have the pit, Cardinal and so on. What should we be thinking about in terms of grade for Q3?

Question: Don DeMarco - National Bank Financial, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : Yes. Well, I mean, obviously, direction will be higher than Q2, but we're just trying to -- just get a sense of the balance of these 3 different components and so on and if there's anything you can kind of -- whatever you're telling people at this point.

Question: Don DeMarco - National Bank Financial, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : Okay. Great. Bill, just continuing on, you confirmed Cardinal is going to be still in that range of 20,000 to 25,000 for 2021. But how much might we expect in 2022? And you did release that 5-year guidance at the AGM. Is Cardinal included in that guidance? And any color here would be appreciated.

Question: Don DeMarco - National Bank Financial, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : Okay. And obviously, Cardinal is going to be lifting that a lot. But just to that second question, Cardinal, 20,000 to 25,000 for 2021, but that's probably a baseline for subsequent years, I would imagine.

Question: Don DeMarco - National Bank Financial, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : Okay. Great. And on Bantako, is there any concern that the mining license in that area north of Menankoto could be retracted? I mean it's -- are you feeling pretty confident in that? I mean obviously, we hope to have the portion that was taken away restored. But what about risks to the rest of the property?