More gold, less jobs

Canadian gold mining senior B2Gold has announced the results from its Otjikoto gold mine for the 2024 financial year and the numbers are most impressive. Out of gold revenue of N$8,889 billion the mine, 90% owned by B2Gold and with the remaining 10% in the hands of local partners EVI Mining Company Limited, has earned N$2,599 billion in profits after tax. Gold production for the year stood at 198 142 ounces while gold sales amounted to 203 796 ounces. Good news for Namibia is that over the course of last year about two thirds, or N$1,966 billion of total procurement spend was done locally, while N$1,138 billion was spent offshore, bringing total procurement to N$3,104 billion. The company invested N$31,242 million in community upliftment project and more importantly, contributed no less than N$2,512 billion to government coffers through corporate taxes amounting to N$1,874 billion, royalty tax of N$255,4 million and export levies of N$85,3 million. At the announcement of the results in the capital on Monday evening, B2Gold country manager for Namibia, John Roos made the point that from the return to shareholders amounting to N$2,85 billion; “the dividends that we declare to our 90% shareholder overseas, we pay a 5% tax on those dividends.”For this year 2025 the mine is looking forward to producing 175 000 ounces of gold and, “you can see that from where the current gold prices are sitting at the moment, that means significant profits and significant contributions to the Namibian economy,” he said.Unfortunately with the continuing transition from open-pit mining to underground mining, the mine needs less mineworkers and is continuing at a pace with its plan to shed jobs. Already last year the mine employed some 671 workers, down from just shy of 900 mineworkers recorded for 2023. By the end of this year, Roos said, B2Gold intends to stabilise its workforce at about 400 employees. This workforce downsizing comes as open pit mining operations are scheduled to conclude in the third quarter of 2025, while underground mining of Otjikoto’s Wolfshag deposit is expected to continue into 2027. Exploration results to date do indicate the potential to extend underground production from Wolfshag beyond 2027, supplementing processing operations into 2032 when economically viable stockpiles are forecasted to be exhausted.However Otjikoto also holds the promise of its Antelope deposit, for which a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) was announced in February this year. The deposit comprises the Springbok Zone, the Oryx Zone and a possible third structure, Impala, some 4 km southwest of the existing Otjikoto pit. B2Gold believes that the Antelope deposit has the potential to become a small-scale, low-cost, underground gold mine that can supplement the low-grade stockpile production from 2028 to 2032, “and result in a meaningful production profile for Otjikoto into the next decade,” the miners said in its latest news release. The PEA suggests an initial lifetime for the mine of 5 years and total production of 327 000 ounces averaging about 65 000 ounces per year. Together with processing stockpiles, that would potentially increase production to about 110 000 ounces per year from 2029 through 2032. An initial budget of up to US$10 million has been approved to de-risk the Antelope deposit this year.Looking forward to the eventual closure of the mine, B2Gold has already started preparing a remarkable legacy for after the mining stops. Not only have they planted over 6000 seedlings, but they have already rehabilitated more than 150 hectares of the environment. Plans are also being carried out to establish the solar power plant, the maize farms and the tourism oriented nature reserve into standalone businesses which will continue to produce for the good of Namibia, long after the mining has come to an end.

More gold, less jobs

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-28

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More gold, less jobs

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-28

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