Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to B2Gold Corporation's Q4 2023 Production and 2024 Guidance Conference Call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity for analysts to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star then zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Clive Johnson, President and CEO of B2Gold. Please go ahead.
Well, thank you, operator. Welcome, everyone. We're pleased to be here today to talk to you about the fourth quarter we had in 2023, and also the year's production. We're going to give you an update on what we see as guidance for 2024 and give you a bit of a window into 2025 for B2Gold. So a very strong quarter gold production again in 2023. The fourth quarter, we produced just under 290,000 ounces of gold. And for the year, we achieved the upper half of our 2023 production guidance with just over 1 million ounces of gold production, including 68,000 ounces attributable from production from Fekola .
This is the eighth consecutive year for the company for meeting, exceeding our guidance. We're very pleased with the progress that we've made. So, 2024 is a year, it's a transition year for our company at large, which is a producing company that is growing as well. So in 2024, production will be a bit lower than we had seen in 2023, and there's a number of different reasons for that. Bill's going to go into some detail, and Mike will talk to us about where we are from the financial perspective, continuing to be in a very strong position.
So for 2024, production, this will be lower, primarily due to the delay in getting an Exploitation Permit from the Government of Mali to proceed with the trucking of high-grade material and saprolite material from the north of the Fekola complex in the Anaconda area, which we were set to go on the roads built, and all the facilities are basically in place to start that. We hope to start that in 2024. The government decided to do a mining audit, an audit of the mining companies, and it also came out with a new Mining Code. So we had that they delayed the issuance of licenses in terms of exploitation licenses during that period of time.
So, we had some very, I think, positive conversations with the government a couple of weeks ago in Mali, making progress towards understanding the implications of the 2023 Mining Code for Mali. The Fekola Mine itself is still under the 2012 Mining Code and has certain factors locked into that in terms of the ownership of the project, et cetera. So the conversations we have with the Government of Mali were around the 2023 Mining Code, which applies to the rest of the Fekola region.
So we think there's a good economic case to truck, start trucking more from the Anaconda Area into the Fekola Mill in the near term, and we're continuing our conversations with the government to find out what that means in terms of finding a way that is profitable for the shareholders in our company, but also something that the government of Mali feels they're getting their fair share. So we're hoping to conclude our discussions soon with the government of Mali and be in a position to start trucking ore from the Anaconda Area and elsewhere down to the Fekola Mill, and that could add 80,000 to 100,000 ounces a year of gold production. So we're hoping to see that Exploitation Permit later in the year and looking to see that additional production late in 2024 and into 2025.
So that could be another 80,000 to 100,000 ounces of gold per year. Bill's going to give us a little breakdown on the cost associated with Fekola in terms of this is a year where we have a significant amount of capital spend, which was planned. And the like of Mike, we had a bit more grade than we've seen in some years before. We're down a bit ounces, as I mentioned, because of the lack of truck loading. We had a big spend in terms of tailings pond. We're just going very well with tailings pond construction, and also we're expanding the solar plant, so and some pre-stripping.
So those are some of the issues that are hitting this year, in 2024, in terms of our costs that are all over all the sustaining costs. It's no mystery to us why the accounting rules suggest that if you spend a lot of money on a tailings pond, which is going to tailings the tailings facilities, when you spend that money in a year, and you're going to use it for 10 years, why someone decided that you cannot write that off over 10 years? You have to do it over the years. That's bumped up our all our sustaining costs, which Bill pointed out with the World Gold Council and the other powers that be that determined what can be written off over years versus one year.
So, we're looking forward to a very strong 2025. We will see the benefit of the things we're doing this year, such as the tailings facility and pre-strip, etc. We are looking at 2025, at the end of the year, Fekola, which will of course come online, and that's going to give us a good look at the production and then where we are in the progress of our construction. The ice road is almost completed. We'll start trucking along the ice road in the second week of February. About a month ahead of schedule, and the project overall remains on schedule for first gold production in the first quarter of 2025. The other things we're on track in indicate an impact on 2025 is the fact that Goose will be up and running in the first quarter.
Obviously, we will be expanding at Fekola, and we're looking at some good increase in gold production. Additionally, the Gramalote project will come into view with a study that comes out in the first part of the year, starting in the first half of the year, at the end of the second quarter, which we'll look at Gramalote for the first time as one company owning it. Looking at maybe is there a better, smaller project for Gramalote. We always pushed that because we had two gold mining companies in the joint venture. We always pushed it to the large end of the production, looking to produce somewhere around 350,000 to 400,000 ounces a year for Gramalote.
For the first time now, we're looking at as maybe a lower capital cost, smaller project with a high grade core of the deposit that does seem to make sense to maybe produce 150,000 or 200,000 ounces a year for Gramalote. So that's going to come into view as well. So the combination of Goose production coming online for 300,000 ounces a year, starting in the first quarter of 2025, and the potential of Gramalote gives us a good growth profile from existing assets. We will continue, of course, to look at other opportunities. We've got a very strong exploration budget again this year. We look at M&A, but we're not really looking to add development projects to the portfolio.
We have Goose that we're developing and also the potential of Gramalote. So we're not going to be likely to go out in this market to look at M&A activity. We'll continue to focus on great exploration opportunities such as what we've done in terms of investing in junior companies and looking at joint venture with junior companies on the exploration side. So with that, I think I'll hand it over to Bill, and Bill's going to give us a summary of what I said, but in more detail, the capital expenditures for this year, Fekola, and talk about Goose and the capital costs of Goose, as you'll see in the news release, are a little bit higher than we had originally projected. Bill will talk to you about the reasons why that is.
We believe that we're on track with this new budgeted estimate of around $1 billion to complete construction. As I said earlier, we're definitely feeling very comfortable with our schedule of producing gold from Goose in the first quarter of 2025. So with that, I'll hand it over to Bill, and Mike's going to talk us through the prepaids. We decided to tap into the prepaid market to maintain our very strong financial position. In a year, we have a lot of capital spend coming up.
This is something that we pioneered when I came on for the building Fekola in 2016, and that was to tap into the prepaid gold markets as a great source of cheap financing to allow us to then complete the construction of the Fekola mill and mine facilities. You might remember that we were on schedule and on budget at Fekola, but because of a drop in, dramatic drop in the gold price in 2016, we suddenly didn't have sufficient funds. We were about $125 million short of reaching the funding, the building of the mine, and that was our budget and our schedule.
So , we were the first company to do gold prepaid as a form of financing, and it was a great financing at the time for us because people anticipated that we would do an equity issue to complete construction of Fekola. Our stock was driven down to actually $0.80 a share. With the anticipation of a large dilutive equity offering, we didn't do that. We did the prepaid instead and took a small percentage of our gold production and used that to fund the necessary funds to complete Fekola. A lot of companies have copied that now.
It's quite a common type of financing, and I'm going to walk you through why we did that and why it's very beneficial to the company in the long term to leave us in a very strong financing position as we go through a transition year in 2024. We're still transitioning at Fekola and also transitioning in the context of building the Goose mine. So the company remains very focused on being a responsible gold producer, but also a growth company. And we're well on track with our gold projects to continue that journey. So with that, I think I'll hand it over to Bill to give you a little more color on Fekola capital spend, and also talk about the Goose project.
Okay, thanks, Clive. I want to start a little bit with just once again reiterating that 2023, even though it kind of at the halfway point, we were down a little bit on ounces, we managed to make everything up and had an excellent year across all three sites. I mean, if you look at Fekola in particular, fourth quarter was a very good quarter for Fekola, and it really led us into setting up for 2024.
If you go back and think about what was in the feasibility study or the technical study that we put out related to kind of the life of mine production, you would see that 2024 was always a bit of a down year as we basically worked our way through phase VII, some of the lower grade in the higher zones of phase VII, and then into the rich part. So what we have is, we'll be taking out the bottom of p hase VI, which is high grade, and at the same time, bringing phase VII down, so the second half of the year will be into the rich zone also in Phase VII.
Additionally, at Fekola, as Clive said, we've got a few kind of one-off projects which are raising up the all-in sustaining cost. We have the tailings facility. The tailings facility has been compressed a little bit. Originally, that was designed to be in 2023 and 2024. Over the course of both those years, they were a little late on getting us a permit, so we condensed the construction period a little bit. That's going to be approximately $45 million to complete, with most of that occurring in 2024, with the intent of bringing that online in the second quarter of 2025. Additionally, there is the solar plant. Once again, late delivering the permit, so we were delayed a little bit, but that project will come online in 2024.
That project has approximately $19 million left, and that project is on schedule. We've also got the underground. Everyone's aware, I think, that the underground is designed to replace some of the lower grade ounces out of phase VIII in the early years with higher grade ounces. We have a plan to develop that, the underground mine, really by the end of 2024, we're going to be at the face of the ore. So our intent really is this year to develop a study and get it to the government to get approvals to start mining in the first half of 2025. That's an additional $64 million to completion. So overall, all those things should really set us up nicely going into 2025.
And just talking a little bit about the regional stuff and how it plays in. So the regional stuff, everyone is aware that we have, in fact, completed almost all of the infrastructure for the regional stuff. The road is in, all of the facilities up at Menankoto and Bantako North are in, and really, what basically we're talking about now is just finishing up, closing up buildings and then getting a permit and then pre-stripping. So if you think about what the original plan was that we announced in kind of late 2022, all of that was supposed to happen in 2023. So really, if you just take the 2023 program and shift it into 2024, what you're going to see is that there's the potential in 2024 to develop those 18,000 ounces.
That would be way out in Q4. What that assumes is we're able to get a permit in by the first half of the year, and then we have three months of pre-stripping, and then, of course, we'd be hauling ore in Q4 of 2024. That's the same schedule that we would've had in 2023. What that allows us to do is push that 80,000 to 100,000 ounces, which would've originally come on in 2024, those ounces will now come on in 2025. So really, we see that we're right on schedule, if in fact, you assume that we start in Q1 of 2024 for developing the regional stuff.
Clive, anything else you'd like me to talk about for the call before I go on to Goose?
No, I think that's good, Bill.
Okay, so Goose is probably the one which is drawing the most attention on this call. I'll start out with all of the positives. So the project remains fully on schedule. The mill is actually ahead of schedule. When the last time we talked, we had been shipping stuff up to the MLA and getting ready for the winter ice road. The winter ice road construction is fully under construction right now. We're in the process of, you know, doing something a little different than we did before, from kind of working not only from the end, but also from the middle out. And so we are talking about, at the end or during the second week of February, opening up the ice road.
We are anticipating, with fuel, that we're going to be bringing 3,000 loads, approximately, plus, minus, down the ice road. As we previously indicated, we have plenty of time for that. We've got the additional trucks on site or at the MLA, and we don't see any reason that that shouldn't happen. That still remains on the critical path, but that's in very good shape. On the additional construction side, the underground's going very well. The ventilation raise is in. The team is working very good on trying to get down to that crown pillar. The open pit is going very well. We've got all of the trucks operating on schedule.
That is obviously, once again, something that's very critical, because that tailings, or that open pit, has to be mined out by kind of Q1 2025, because that'll be a tailings facility from day one. Regarding the costs, this is one I'm trying to give a lot of thought on what is necessarily the best way to say this, but basically, the situation is we took over the project kind of midstream from Sabina. So Sabina had done their feasibility study. Sabina had ordered the first stuff, which was coming up the ice road in 2023, and had put together the schedule. We obviously did extensive due diligence to get through that, but a lot of the things were either in snow, or you couldn't really identify how it all fit together once you started putting it together.
So our guys got on site, and we started working through it, and we identified things which B2 wanted to do different to improve productivity, but also reliability. And a lot of that really relates to kind of some big buckets, and I'll just run through some of these. The underground, the initial underground that was done by Sabina really didn't have a lot of capital spending on it. Things like some of the consumables for underground and a lot of the actual support, which was needed for developing the underground. So that when you talk about the difference between kind of that $90 million and $120 million difference, most of that comes in equipment and support different from the underground, which was never just ordered. And I have to, I'm going to come back to this several times.
It's not just the cost of the equipment that you're really talking about, because it had been discussed and agreed that we were going to fast track the underground. A lot of this stuff had very heavy logistics costs with it, ordering it on as quickly as possible, and then putting it on C-130s to bring it into site. So expensive transportation costs associated with that. And it's the same thing with some of the other things which were outstanding. We found that we had a major redesign of some of the mill structures to include a lot of the piping and a lot of the venting. All of that stuff had to be reordered. And it's not just that we're paying for it now and then paying for the logistics that go with it.
Remember, we already bought it once, shipped it to site, and now we're doing the whole thing again on a schedule. So you're paying at least double, but we felt that it was really important to make sure that the guys had the equipment and the necessary facilities in order to build it in time for the Q1 2025 season. So what we're talking about is really mill infrastructure, underground infrastructure. Another big one is the labor. And I saw one of the questions from one of the analysts this morning related to, is that something that's going to carry on? Well, the answer is no. What happened was when Sabina did their feasibility study, they didn't include the requisite number of hours for people working on site.
And so we've obviously taken the operational stuff and turned it into a B2 model. But when we went back and looked at the construction model, what we noticed is they didn't have enough hours, not, not the actual day rates, but the hours per day that people would be working. And so that, that was a big miss on their part, and, you know, we're in the process of correcting that. And then the last big one really is the powerhouse. The powerhouse was undersized, and definitely undersized when you include the additional underground. So we're in the process right now of ordering additional power supplies, and once again, all that stuff has to be flown in, so that'll be an expensive proposition as well. And all of that adds up to the large overrun that you see.
But most of it really are things that will not be carried on into operation. And once we get it going, what we are hoping for is a more reliable and a better running facility. Anything else there, Clive, you'd like me to talk about?
Well, I think that some people are probably curious to think what is the risk factor going forward with the additional capital spend.
Oh, yeah.
Also, how much money have we spent so far, Bill, in terms of between what Sabina some of the use for money they spent, and also what we've spent and what's left to spend in sort of the construction capital to get the mine up and running?
Yeah, sure. So let's start with the risk one. We think that really the risk of additional overruns is low, given the fact that once again, we've now ordered really everything which is in the MLA. Obviously, that stuff is coming up the winter road. We're in the process now of putting in orders for the 2025 ice road, and we're not seeing, basically all of that has been included in the budget and increases in price. The labor issues have been addressed in the updated budget, so we don't see that as an issue. So overall, we see the additional cost overruns as a low-risk proposition. To date, we've spent a little bit more than $700 million on this project.
So basically, with more than 70% of the budget already spent and committed, you know, for 2024 and Q1 2025, we really believe that the risk of exceeding that budget is kind of low risk.
Okay, thanks, Bill. I think it's important to point out that I think that, I think, Bill and the team have done an extraordinary job when you look at the fact that this is not the way we normally like to build and grow the company B2Gold, because normally, we like to find projects that are at the feasibility stage, and we can design and know we can design what we want to build and do it our way. In this situation, we had a company, a single asset company, who owned the asset, who was interested in trying to build a mine, and they were very much, on obviously a very extremely tight budget.
They were the only alternative for them to be able to finance the project, which was unfortunately to rely on private equity and the streamers, to the point where they were giving up a lot of the value of the project up front, to try and get into production on an extremely tight budget. So we took it over when it was partway into construction, and that's one of the reasons why we're also disappointed in an increase in the capital cost, because we pride ourselves for years at B2Gold at doing things on budget, on schedule.
In this case, I think we did an extraordinary job of picking up the pieces in what was gonna be a very challenged project, with a single asset company without a lot of construction experience and with a financing, a very, painful and extremely expensive financing with private equity, which I think everyone knows that I'm not a big fan of. I think it's very destructive in our industry, the cost of these financings. So we managed to, t here was a lot of pressure on the deal, on this deal to get the deal closed, to be honest with you, in April of last year, before they drew down the financing from Orion and all the other troopers that came in. T o finance the project, which probably, you know, could cost up to $200 million actually, just to finance the project.
If you add up all the bells and whistles and the prepayment of gold and all the other nasty things that were required, because traditional financing was not available to the previous owner of the project, because of the market skepticism about building a mine in the north. This is an awesome company and with the backlog of experience in terms of building projects. So we've done a remarkable job this last year. We picked up this thing on the fly, partway in construction in the last year. Sabina had planned two ships to go from Montreal up to the Arctic Ocean, to drop off their standby, and then go to the rest of them.
To bring everything on site, w ell, we actually were able to send six ships up to bring everything we needed to complete construction and then all the fuel, essentially, we needed for the future of the project. So, Sabina did a lot of good things, and they did good things in terms of exploration, permitting, Indigenous relationships. We have a great relationship with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, the Inuit Association of our partners, and we just had some great meetings with them here this week. And so there are a lot of things that Sabina did well in, in those areas. And a lot of the Sabina team, the critical people, in our view, wanted to stay with this great project in terms of permitting and in terms of Indigenous relations.
And some of the technical people, particularly the exploration team, joined our team, and I think that's one of the only reasons that we were able to actually rescue or keep to the schedule of first gold production in the first quarter of 2025. So, just to give you a little bit of background. So Sabina did a good job, and they did for sure now, unequivocally, did a great thing for the shareholders by accepting an offer from me to go to complete a friendly takeover with a significant premium, to build this mine, and do it, and do it well. So we remain extremely optimistic, about Goose as a major asset.
Mike's now going to walk us through why we chose to take out financing now in a non-dilutive prepayment of gold production to make sure that we maintain a very strong financial position as we go through this transitional year of the capital spends we need at Fekola, et cetera, which were planned and expected, but also Goose, finishing off the project and maintaining our dividend and maintaining a strong cash position. So I think with that, I'll pass it over to Mike to talk about the gold prepayment finance, and then we'll open up for questions.
Okay, thanks, Clive. Let's on the prepaid financing. I think Clive touched on it, r eally, the goal is just to strengthen and maintain our balance sheet liquidity, keep us in great shape as we get through 2024 and beyond, frankly, you know. So prepayments, we looked at the gold market. We've got gold at near record highs, and it's been over $2,000 for over a quarter, right, for two quarters now. It's the first time ever I think that's happened. So you've got to look at the gold prices, say, this is a good gold market. This is a very attractive gold place. And with the prepayments, you have the balance when you're blessed with production. So it's a great financing for an operating company, I think, just because if you have production, you can.
So we're able to price them using the gold price just under $2,200. $2,190 was the average across the four banks. And it, you know, for a total of 265,000 ounces, and we're going to deliver those ounces in the second half of 2025, once Goose is up and running, and the first half of 2026. I stress, too, these are portfolio prepayments. We can source the production from anywhere. And when you look at this as a financing, if you look at the number of ounces we've got to deliver and the forward price that we're able to use, and that's out, if you use today's gold price, it's a net effective financing cost of around 2.7%.
So when I look at that compared to the revolver, which is probably 8%+, and not re-pricing, it's an attractive financing. And so where we are, and then actually, I'd like to give a shout-out to the four syndicate banks. We're in there, CIBC, ING, National Bank and BMO. I want to say thank you as always, for all their support. They were there as much as we did, we did prepayments before. Our syndicate took part in that, and they took part in this again. So just give you a snapshot of where we are. At Q3, we had approximately $300 million in bank cash, and I like to kind of keep it two 50 to 300 . That's, to me, that's a decent level of liquidity for our side, doing the kind of things we're doing.
We hadn't drawn the line at the end of Q3, but as we indicated, we were starting to draw in Q4. So by the end of the year, we've drawn $150 million. So we're still, I think you'll see, we haven't put our year-end results out yet, but, like I said, I like to keep that cash somewhere around $300 million. We had the line drawn $150 million, so we're still strong at cash position. And our objectives with the prepayments is, first of all, we'll, we'll pay down the line with a portion of the prepayments, and then, and then we'll have the, the balance of the prepayments plus a full undrawn line to finance ourselves as we go through and fund all the kinds of things that we want to do.
And to give you a picture, I think of, you know, what are the use of those funds? It's to really maintain our flexibility, like I say, both through 2024 and beyond. You've heard there is some significant capital development in Mali for Fekola, and some of those are multiyear projects, right? So they've been going on the tailings, the underground, solar. We started those prior year. Most of them will be complete or near completion by the end of 2024. And then, of course, also for Fekola Regional, we've got some spend in there just to get that ready. And so when we get those licenses, we're ready to go.
We want to maintain our aggressive exploration program with $63 million in the budget for exploration, all of that brownfield and for greenfield, and they could certainly give more details as needed there. You probably know, big project for us is Goose, just to keep that running through smoothly and get ourselves into first gold quarter in 2025, Q1 2025, and maintain our 2024 dividend at the current rate, as we've indicated before. And also to give ourselves capacity and flexibility for maybe some investment decisions that might come later in 2024. Right? They're not in the budget right now, but Clive's touched on them. So first one would be Gramalote. How do we see Gramalote? You know, by the half year, we'll have a picture of what we think that newer, streamlined Gramalote operation could look like.
So if we want to move forward, we have to, and this prepaid now helps us to have that sort of flexibility to make some decisions. And also, I don't actually think, and I'll talk to maybe a little bit, but we're looking at the Antelope Zone or Springbok or some version of, like, bouncy animal. And which we think is an exciting underground prospect that could help supplement, mill feed in those stockpile years at Otjikoto, where if, if this pans out, we can bring the, the underground into inference. We can look at putting some kind of a model on it and perhaps adding some more higher-grade ounces in those stockpile years. So those are the kind of things, giving ourselves flexibility, letting us look forward past the end of 2024.
And really, the prepays in the end, you know, it's an opportunistic financing, but the gold price the way it is, and I think it's a cheap financing for a company like ourselves when we have, like I say, we're blessed with production.
That's right. But maybe, I think one of the topics that is on a lot of people's mind is Mali and the government of Mali and gold mining in Mali. I'd like to get your comments about that. From our recent trip down there and negotiations with the government. So, I think it's really important to keep it in context. Mali has been, for decades, a very good country in terms of investment and building gold mines, successful gold mines, with a history of Randgold, now Barrick, and other companies, including ourselves. It is a country that has been successful working with the various governments we've been through, in terms of understanding that the gold is a very 20% of the GDP of the country, and I think we're the largest taxpayer in the country.
And then paid the government about $3 billion in taxes and benefits to the people of Mali. So we put up all the risk money to build Fekola, $600 million, and the people in the government of Mali have realized a little over 50% of the economic value of the Fekola mine. I think that's a pretty good deal. We take all the risk, and they get 50% of the economic benefits. So the new government, or the government that's in place today, that feels that they want more of the pie, and Mali for Malians, and self-determination, and those things, which I think are great things to aspire to over time. They don't happen overnight.
So at the end of the day, we're in conversations with the government, and a lot of the, a lot of the, parameters that govern Fekola are locked in, for Fekola under the 2012 Mining Code. And the government clearly recognizes, just as recently as a couple weeks ago, when we were down there, that Fekola is under the 2012 code. The 2023 code is looking, basically to increase the government's interest significantly i n gold and, and gold mining projects in Mali. And that would be r egional, the regional areas that we want to truck ore from are governed under the 2023 code.
So the conversations with the government and understanding the 2023 code, and frankly and respectfully, we had pretty much with the government, has showed a couple of weeks ago, where they consider B2Gold, and they mentioned to us that they consider B2Gold sort of the best and foreign investor in their country, and they recognize the value of gold production. And they clearly are on the same page with us, in the sense that they want to see trucking ore, in the near term to increase production with Fekola, as we mentioned, by potentially 80,000 to 100,000 ounces a year by trucking ore down to the mill. So that's the conversations that are going on to understand the 2023 code and understand the economic implications. And that doesn't make economic sense to truck ore. So we're working with the government of Mali.
We think there's a path forward for mutual benefit to us and the government and the people of Mali to continue to increase production at Fekola by trucking ore. When we talked to the government about the fact that we have two potential stages of growth at the Fekola complex, the first was trucking ore, as we've talked about, which is very low cost. We've spent most of the capital to do that, and we think can be quite profitable. The second was to potentially build an additional mill in the Anaconda Area, with perhaps something around $250 million capital investment to actually build a second mill based on some of the exploration results we've seen. Not only in the oxidized saprolite material, but also in the sulfide as well.
Frankly, those plans are very much on hold on trying to understand the implications of the 2023 Mining Code. So at the end of the day, i t's a competition for our investment dollars around the world and where we're going to spend our investment dollars. So Mali's been a good place to be invested with the regional tax regime, and many companies, including ours, and more importantly, the people of Mali have benefited from that. So the question becomes, under the new Mining Code, is Mali still an attractive place to build mills and, and additional gold mines? And we're trying to understand that a little bit better and trying to work with the government to understand the implications of some of the proposed tax and other increases that the government's looking for.
So at the end of the day, we have, you know, the capital dollars we're prepared to spend around the world as we've done so successfully, as a company. Do we want to spend our money potentially in Colombia, as the study that's goin to come out in the first half of this year indicates that we can build a mine there and invest significantly in and around Colombia? Or do we build a second mill in the Fekola complex, et cetera, et cetera, or other opportunities? So at the end of the day, gold production has been a very important part, historically, for centuries, actually, if you look at the history of Mali, of Mali and Mali's economy and it is today. So we're encouraging the government to work with us. I think we have a good relationship.
We have a great relationship with the government, as they talked to us a couple of weeks ago, about being sort of the poster child of the gold standard of foreign investment in their country. So I think there's a level of understanding between us, and a level of commonality to see what works for the government and the people of Mali, and what works for, a profitable gold mining company that's looking to grow, responsibly as we've done. So, I'm optimistic that we're going to, in the next month or so, continue our conversations with the government and, get on with the business of trucking more from the rest of the Fekola complex down to Fekola mill. So, you know, there's a lot of rumors out there and there's a lot of, people getting half the story, unfortunately.
The fact of the matter is, the government of Mali understands the importance of gold production in the country. This government, previous governments, and I'm sure future governments understand that. And we're confident that we and the other companies can continue to work with them to, you know, for the betterment of Mali. So I think we are, b ottom line is we've done it, we've done it around the world between B2Gold. We've been one of the most successful companies, I think, in the mining sector, where we have been in managing political risk and understanding it. And the best way to manage political risk is to build on the promise that we make with these countries and these governments. So we're confident that we're going to be able to continue to work successfully with the government of Mali for Fekola, but also going forward.
So I think with that, we'll probably open it up for questions. So, operator, if you can invite people to ask us questions. Thank you.
Certainly. We'll now begin the analyst question and answer session. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. You'll hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, press star then two. Our first question is from Ovaid Habib with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.
Hi, Clive and B2 team. Congrats on a strong end to the year, and so 2024 it seems like, like you mentioned, is a transitional year, with remaining CapEx spend at Goose, and sustaining projects in 2024. So just a couple of questions from me. Number one, Bill gave us a good overview of, again, why the Goose CapEx increased. And I'm actually glad that you are making these changes now, rather than having issues at startup. But is there anything in this new guidance or plans that you're looking to do in 2024, Bill, that's still worrying your team o r is there anything that's still outstanding that you want to change now, rather than kind of have in place at the startup?
Well, you know, I'll comment on that briefly and then give it to Bill. I mean, the history of B2Gold is we build mills with the expectation that they're going to ramp up very quickly. We don't build a mill with piece of gold to fix the mill and fix all the other problems in the mine. We build them to start up and start well, and we're anticipating that, especially with a very high-grade stock pile we're going to have at Goose. So I'll pass it over to Bill.
Yeah, thanks, Clive. That's a very valid point. You know, we don't anticipate startup issues. I would tell you your question is almost like, what's still keeping you up at night after changing the capital cost? And I would say, you know, we're still looking at the power issue, right? They really, they missed it on the power, and if you followed us, we are looking very closely at a wind plant up there, which we think is going to help us offset that. That's probably, that's not a CapEx issue, Bill. That's something that hopefully we'll get somebody to sell us power across the fence.
But what that allow us to do is really reduce the amount of fuel that we can bring in, that we have to bring in each year and cut down on the tankage. Because that's really, that was one of the big, big misses on the Fekola side. So that's probably the one thing, is fuel, I'd say, but it's not an additional capital cost, and it certainly is not going to impact startup.
Okay, thanks, Bill, for that. And just that kind of segues with my next question. In terms of the ramp up at Goose in 2025, production guidance was kind of around that, you know, 250,000 ounce mark in 2025. It was below our expectations and kind of below the latest tech report, which was calling for production around the 300,000 ounce mark. Bill, are you just being kind of conservative going into this ramp up in 2025 or has something else changed in how you see production in the first year?
No. I mean, once again, your previous technical report started kind of at month zero. So I think if you look at, w e're still saying approximately 300,000 ounces a year at a minimum over the first five years on average, right? So nothing changes there. But if you start on, let's say, we use March 31st as you know, the end of Q1, and then you have a ramp up of three months, it's not that hard to get to, you know, to get to the mid-200. So I was actually kind of surprised that that came out in the market, that was a bit below expectations. We see that as really kind of exactly what the mine plan said.
Okay, thanks for the clarity on that, Bill. And just switching gears on Fekola, Fekola Regional, I guess, you know, Clive, you again gave us a very good overview in terms of, you know, how great the relationships are with the Malian government, how kind of talks are progressing. Is there any kind of, you know, you know, kind of point that you guys are stuck on o r is there anything kind of color that you can provide as to , you know, is the Malian government kind of serious about you guys moving forward? Is, is that, you know, are they, are they kind of tiptoeing around, you know, giving you that one? I mean, where is kind of things stuck at right now?
Well, I think the 2023 Mining Code is relatively new. In fact, it just came out with an implementation decree that very recently, like, in the last couple of weeks, so we're going through that with them. I think that, you know, and I was an optimist, I suppose, but you have to be in this business, almost got to be. But at the end of the day, I think that we had good, productive meetings with the government to really understand the 2020 code, the implementation of it, and what it really means. Not for, you know, as you said, not for Fekola, but what it means for regional production.
So it's very important, like many other governments around the world, in the gold mining industry, developing countries, they don't kill the goose that lays the gold egg. And that's the balance they need to strike between attracting investment and companies like ourselves to build the next gold mines in Mali, et cetera. So we're in an unusual position there because we're the ones in the country that have a near-term scenario of trucking ore, which is going to be very beneficial to B2Gold and all of its stakeholders, including the government and the people of Mali, because we don't have to blast across the ore. We simply dig it out of the ground, and we've already built the roads. So we can quite economically, hopefully, mine additional ore.
But in terms of the second mill or other foreign investors coming in and building gold mines in Mali, as I mentioned earlier, it's a competitive situation for our investment dollars. So we're really working with the Mali government from a respectful position and mutual success we've achieved in the past to understand the limits and the implications. So Mali, for Malians, self-determination is something that we all aspire to. At the end of the day, I think that it happens over time. There's not a Malian company that I know of, or the government that's going to spend $600 million to build a mine like Fekola. At the end of the day, they need foreign investment. They need responsible, respectful foreign investment, like other companies in which you quote, it's such an important part of the economy.
So we're confident that, with good consultation, as we're having, with the government, we'll find the balance to continue to attract foreign investment gold mining in Mali.
Thanks, thanks for the color on that, Clive, as well. And so, so that's it for me. Really thanks for hosting this call and thanks for taking my questions.
Thanks, Ovais. Good questions.
Thank you.
The next question is from Don DeMarco with National Bank Financial. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator, and good morning, Clive and team. So Bill, you mentioned that the mill is ahead of schedule. Is there any chance for first pour earlier than Q1 2025 in light of this?
Did Clive ask you to say that question?
Well, I'll answer that quickly, and then I'll get over to Bill. Well, I'll let the first go, but let Bill answer that, and then I'll give you my view.
So the answer is, really, it's almost a foot race now between can we mine out the Echo pit fast enough versus building the mill. So really, I don't see it happening much faster. If it is, I would say it's immaterial.
Okay.
Okay. If I was a betting man, then we're in this industry, you're sort of making bets every day. But if I was a betting man, I would say that given the track record of Bill's team and John Rajala, our metallurgist in the mills that he builds, I think we're going to have a really good ramp up and start up, and I'll just leave it at that.
Okay, thanks. So to my next question, and sticking with Goose, there was some messaging in the release that some of the extra spend might reduce OpEx, particularly underground development and so on. But, you know, we do recognize that the Goose, Goose Project life and mine plan is going to be finalized in the first quarter of 2024. But does any of this additional spend potentially lead to higher production than might have been forecast in the feasibility study?
Well, once again, that's a Bill answer that, but unfortunately, we didn't get to choose the mill. Sabina did, and it's a good mill. We can work with it, but it doesn't really have the expansion potential that a B2Gold mill would normally have. When you look at Fekola, where we started and where we are today, dramatic expansion of the mill because we built it with the idea of expansion, so we don't really have the benefit of that. But that Goose with the mill that we have, and Bill, you answer the rest of that.
Yeah. So I don't, i n the short term, the answer is no. I mean, what we've done really, the mill is kind of, as Clive has said, is not a B2 design mill, kind of about 25% design factor able to get bigger. And so what you're really talking about is can we bring higher ounces forward? And that's really what we've done in our current mine plan. You know, Sabina kind of conceptually talked about it without putting any numbers on it, and at the end of the day... That's by taking the crown pillar kind of in the early years, that's exactly what we're doing. And so unless we have, you know, some success with some down thrown higher grade exploration, I don't see that in the short term.
Okay.
I would say that, you know, we're spending. We have a large exploration budget, Alex and Tony. How much is it? I think this year.
$38 million, yes.
So we have a large exploration budget. Okay, so why is that? Well, because there's tremendous exploration potential, and if you wait a little bit down the road, if we have continued success in one of the holes we drilled, the Antelope deposit is 100m below the previous, you know, extent of the drilling, and we had 20m, 20m of 8 gms. Clearly, these, there's numerous zones on this 80-km-long trend of band of iron formation. So we're spending that money in exploration because we believe the potential is tremendous there. And, and, once again, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's go produce the mill and build it well. But the potential for additional mills on that property in the future is probably not an unrealistic goal or objective.
Okay, thanks. For final question, just shifting to Mali. Clive, it sounds as though you've had some pretty constructive discussions with the government there. Is there a possibility that the regional mining that's planned to start in 2025, or potentially mining from other future regional prospects, will be grandfathered under an earlier code, like the 2012 code?
Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen. I think that the government clearly has come out with a new Mining Code, and I think the key is the issues around are going to be the implementation of the 2023 code, and fully understanding that at the end of the day. So, but I, the implementation of the 2023 code will be important, and they've just come out with that, and that'll be part of the conversation. So they're not going to grandfather us into this, the 2012 code. Fekola aspects of Fekola are protected under the 12 code, and they've acknowledged that, such as ownership, et cetera. But under the new code, we need to find a way to work within the context of the new code to see if it makes sense for all of our stakeholders to actually truck ore.
We're confident that there's a way forward, and the government's very motivated for more revenue from gold mining, including from Fekola. The fastest way in the country to get more revenue from gold mining is to reach an understanding on how we can profitably truck ore to the Fekola mill.
Okay, thank you very much. That's all for me. Good luck with 2024.
Thanks, Bill.
The next question is from Anita Soni with CIBC World Markets. Please go ahead.
Hi, can you hear me? Hello?
Yes.
Okay, good. Sorry, I was on speakerphone. So a few questions. Firstly, on the Fekola complex, you were saying that there's a possibility that you would not and d epending on the royalty rates, that you wouldn't be trucking that ore. Could you sort of give us an indication on how, you said it was a low cost originally, but, how, like, what kind of cost would you be thinking about if you were going to truck it, just so that we can try to understand the, the economics when the royalty rates come through?
Well, those are the attitudes of the study event. First, Bill, what are the attitudes that you study event our own internal study in terms of trucking ore?
Well, I think we're going to come out with Fekola Complex study in the first quarter. That's what we've decided for about Fekola Mine.
Updated.
General label, yeah.
So I think on the face of it, it's quite attractive because you've got some good grade material there. You don't have to roast or crush it, and we've already built most of the infrastructure, the maintenance buildings for the trucks, the roads, we just done a couple weeks ago, where we're really ready to go. When we get the agreement with the government, we will have some pre-stripping to do for a few months, but then we'll be into into trucking it. So because of the situation where the mill is already built, the Fekola mill, and the nature of the grade of of the sample material that we're seeing in the Fekola complex, then obviously, we're pretty confident that there's an economic case there.
That grade is around 2 gm per ton. Is that, is that correct?
Yeah, I think it's, Bill, about two grams or more.
Yeah, a bit higher. Yeah, it could be a little higher. Once again, we're gonna be selectively mining, so, you know, the study's gonna look at the various iterations, but, you know, two grams certainly makes money.
Okay. And then, I just wanted to talk about the Fekola costs currently on the operating cost side. They're a little higher than I would've anticipated. Can you just, l ike, are you seeing inflationary pressures as, like, versus last year, even on the unit costs of consumables? I'm assuming, you know, what's happening at Goose is the same thing that's happening at Fekola.
Are you talking about Fekola? Yeah.
Yeah, I am talking about-
Well, I think.
Yeah, yeah.
So, yeah, I mean, I think, I think, Bill can answer that, but at the end of the day, simply put, you have less ounces of production than Fekola this year because of the government delaying the exploitation permits to truck ore. So that cost us 80,000 to 100,000 ounces, and the government, it costs the government that as well, their portion of that. So therefore, simply put, you have less ounces to divide your cost by, so therefore, your costs are somewhat higher. Bill, you said you want to add to that, or Mike, y ou can say it .
Well, the only thing I can add to it is clearly we are, it is an ounce issue is the main thing, but we are deeper in phase six right now, right? So certainly on the mining side, the costs will be a little bit higher. But, you know, we've got a very good handle on the kind of the reagent costs with our global purchasing. We've got a very good handle on kind of the milling cost, the power cost, the labor cost. So all of the main drivers, we've got a good handle on, but it's just, you know, where we are-where we're at in the life cycle of the mine.
Okay. Well, that explains the if your mining costs are higher because you're deeper in the pit. I assume that will change over into next year.
We're coming right up into Phase VII right now.
Okay. And then, just was thinking about 2025 on Fekola as well. You mentioned that you're gonna be in higher grades at, at Fekola and at Cardinal. Can you just tell us what kind of grades you're talking about there?
So I don't think I said higher grades at Fekola and Cardinal. What I said was, we'd be in Phase 6 in the first half of the year, in the bottom of Phase VI. So that's the high-grade stuff. That makes up, you know, 2.5 grams. And then in the middle part of the year, we'll be in phase VII, in the upper benches, which is lower grade, you know, kind of in a, I don't know, 1.5 gram area. But as we get that, we'll enter back into the higher grades in the second half of the year, in phase VII, back to that 2.5 grams again.
Yeah, that's so I was talking about 2025 there, so 2.5 grams, but you're okay. I was talking about next year in 2025 there. So you guys were saying that you would have higher grade. Okay.
Oh, okay. Yeah.
Yeah. All right. And then, just, a question on the capital, the non-capitalized stripping and underground development at Back River, of $109 million. Is there, like, what, is that related to, like, will we see some more of that in 2025 as well, or is that just a 2024 spend?
Yeah, I don't think the mine plan is completely out to 2025 as far as the totals yet. So, I'm a bit, l et me just think about this a little bit. Basically, you'll continue to see it through commissioning, so, you know, kind of in that Q1 2025.
Okay. All right. Thank you. That's it for my questions. Sorry, I'm the queen of mundane questions, but they help me in the modeling. Thank you for hosting this call. It's really very, very helpful. Thanks.
Hey, folks, so one thing, Anita, just on your cost profile, what we've seen, I mean, fuel is a big part of our cost, right?
Yeah.
In volume, it's around 30%. So we have the benefit of solar, which is helping us reduce mill operating costs, and we're expanding the solar farm. But also what we saw last year, the fuel prices, despite market fluctuation, which states that the fuel price, and it was pretty consistent through the year. So really what we're assuming when we look into 2024 is the kind of fuel cost level to see for HFO and diesel. As we go through the latter part of 2023, we're assuming we're going to see that in 2024, just for your information.
Okay. Thank you.
The next question is from Carey MacRury with Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning, guys. Just one for me. Bill, you mentioned the underestimation of labor hours. I'm just wondering how your position with the workforce out there, are you fully stocked up for 2024, and any issues in getting people out there?
No, we haven't. It's actually been the opposite. We've, I think it's kind of a B2 thing, y ou know, Clive likes to talk about treating people with respect and accountability. At the end of the day, because of some of the things we're doing a little bit different than other mines, we haven't had any problems drawing employees, and we are in really good shape for 2024 and 2025 as far as specialties. So I don't know if it's the reputation of the construction team, the operation team, or if it's what we're doing as far as, you know, within the local communities, but we've had very good response to labor requests.
Maybe just one other one, just on the solar plans at Fekola. Can you just remind me or remind us of what the benefits you've talked about, either from lower diesel consumption or, you know, what your power costs would drop to?
Well, we had phase I, Phase I for starters. You know, the solar point, we saw that the Phase 1 capacity reduced our mill operating costs by close to 20%, very conceptually, 19%. And so the expansion, you can expect to see an incremental bump again. So it does have a real significant impact on those day-to-day operating costs.
Yeah, and maybe just to add to that, the whole concept originally was that we were going to go to a zero generator operation scenario during the day. That changed a little bit with the underground coming online, but overall, it's gonna cut down the daytime operation of the power plant to almost zero.
Agreed. Thanks, guys.
This concludes the question and answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Clive Johnson for any closing remarks.
Yeah, thank you, out there. Thank you for your attention and your good questions. I just, you know, like to close with I think today's release is extensive, but I think it's informative. And the key is, the key point is that 2024 is going to be another success year for the company. But it's a transitional year at Fekola and also with what we're doing at Goose, because I think that the commitment we have as a company, and we believe that our majority of our shareholders support the idea that we are a responsible mining, comfortable mining company, but we're also very, very much a growth company, and that's the path we're on.
So 2025, we probably haven't talked about it enough, but 2025 is gonna be a very good year for us with a significant increase in gold production because of Goose and getting into better grade Fekola and trucking more, and then, of course, the promise and the potential of things we'll have to see with things like Gramalote. And finally, I would just like to extend on behalf of the whole B2Gold employees our condolences and regards to those involved in the tragic plane crash that happened in the north near the Diavik mine. This is a tough business, and it's a dangerous business in certain ways. So our condolences to the family of those people that perished in the plane crash yesterday. We're all, we're all in this together. So thank you for your time.
This brings to a close today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating and have a pleasant day.