B2Gold Corp Q4 2020 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 : First, a question on the tax side of things. Thank you for the additional disclosure. I noticed the commentary and the call information that the priority dividend would be paid as a tax. In the cash flow statement this quarter, there was still a distribution to noncontrolling interest, I guess, of $9 million. What would that be related to? And is that expected going forward?

Question: Joshua Mark Wolfson - RBC Capital Markets, Research Division - Analyst : Okay. But is it safe to assume that the -- I guess, the full 20%, whatever you want to call it, the free carried and the equity interest for Fekola, that will be captured in the taxes line, not the distribution to noncontrolling interest line?

Question: Joshua Mark Wolfson - RBC Capital Markets, Research Division - Analyst : Okay. And then on Gramalote, I guess 2 questions. So with some of the commentary from Anglo earlier this week, is it safe to assume that the ownership is unlikely to change at this point? And then a follow-up on this sort of open-ground claim that's under review by the ministry there, what does that mean for the outlook of the asset and time lines? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. FEBRUARY 24, 2021 / 6:00PM, BTO.TO - Q4 2020 B2Gold Corp Earnings Call

Question: Joshua Mark Wolfson - RBC Capital Markets, Research Division - Analyst : Yes.

Question: Joshua Mark Wolfson - RBC Capital Markets, Research Division - Analyst : In the absence of this being resolved, is there a way that this -- that you can sort of just continue with construction advancement? Or does this have to be solved first? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. FEBRUARY 24, 2021 / 6:00PM, BTO.TO - Q4 2020 B2Gold Corp Earnings Call

Question: Don DeMarco - National Bank Financial, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : First question is for Bill. So Bill, at Fekola, you mentioned before you were testing higher throughput rates in December. I was wondering if you could give us an update on how that's going. I heard you say earlier, it looks like maybe you can do 8 million tonnes per year, but what are you finding based on your testing you've done so far? Can it go higher? Or where are you at?

Question: Don DeMarco - National Bank Financial, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : Okay. Fair enough. So the guidance for 2020 calls for 7.75 million tonnes per year run rate. And so when you mention Cardinal to add on additional 250,000 tonnes. To get 25,000 ounces, I just ran some math here. It looks like you'd be grading about 3.3 grams per tonne, which would be well above the guidance grade of 2.3%. So is that right? You're sort of thinking to get that 25,000, you'd be topping 3 grams per tonne from Cardinal?

Question: Don DeMarco - National Bank Financial, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : Okay. And so it sounds as though if you're going to get to 8 million tonnes per year, 250,000 tonnes is probably going to be hitting capacity, but -- or is there any other opportunity to bring on something else from Anaconda? I think you had mentioned -- that was mentioned maybe in previous calls.

Question: Don DeMarco - National Bank Financial, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : Okay. Okay. And maybe just one final question on Gramalote. So you've got this asset that's coming out in April. We look forward to that. But in terms of the go-forward decision, are you going to wait until, say, after the Kiaka asset in June? Or are you going to take your time? And how will, say, for example, Tom mentioned he's encouraged by what he's seeing in Uzbekistan. Is there anything else in your pipeline that could potentially delay a go-forward decision on Gramalote?