Good morning or afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to B2Gold's Second Quarter and First Half 2020 Financial Results Conference Call. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Clive Johnson, President and CEO. You may proceed, Mr. Johnson.

Thank you, operator, and thank you all for listening in. We've got the B2Gold executive team either here in Vancouver in the boardroom or on the phone. We're here to talk about the second quarter results for -- financial results for 2020 and for the first half of the year. Obviously, another very strong quarter for us. We had a record for both revenue and operating cash flow, both quarterly records. And we had a good lead in the -- for budget on our operating cash cost per ounce and our all-in sustaining costs per ounce, and we are announcing as well that we are doubling our dividend again from $0.02 to $0.04 a share. And that reflects the remarkable record strong financial position we find ourselves in. Obviously, gold price has helped. And we're in a very strong position, and we're announcing that we intend to fully repay our revolving corporate facility in the third quarter of the year. We're in a net positive cash position today. It's a great place to be in. Given our projected -- remarkable projected total cash operations this year we're expecting, we thought it was very appropriate to increase the dividend to $0.04 per share. So before I hand it over to Mike Cinnamond to give you a rundown on the financial results and then we'll have a quick update on the Fekola expansion and then we'll open it up for any questions that you have, I'll just talk a little bit about COVID. We've done extremely well, as the financial results and the operating results suggest, over the last couple of quarters despite COVID, and I think there's a couple of reasons for that, why we've done so. One of the -- I think the first one is experience. One of the…

Thanks, Clive. I'll start with the earnings statement. Revenue first. So $442 million, a quarterly record for B2, on sales of 257,000 ounces at an average realized price in the quarter of $1,719 per ounce. And it's remarkable to say that -- I'm pleased to say today we sold some gold north of $2,015 per ounce. It's quite amazing, the gold price saying -- it is hard to even say that number. So -- and also to comment on the sales side, we actually sold 17,000 ounces -- or close to 17,000 ounces more than we produced, and that was mainly due to the drawdown of some Fekola closing inventory that we had at the end of Q1. If you'll recall, the end of Q1 was just when the impact of the pandemic was first being felt at a number of the sites, most significantly with the timing and charters and commercial flights in and out. So we had a little bit of gold buildup at the end of the quarter, but we were able to sell that down in the current quarter and into higher gold prices. Moving on now to the production side. So from the -- production from our continuing operations, our 3 operating lines, was 240,000 ounces, 8,000 ounces ahead of budget, led mainly by Fekola. Now Fekola was broadly in line. And then if you add in our share of equity investments, which are basically our share of Caliber ounces, they reported -- our share was 2,000 ounces for a total of 242,000 ounces of production reported in the quarter. Fekola was the main component with 147,000 ounces, 6,000 ounces ahead of budget, and it just -- it continues its very strong operational performance. Process throughput and recoveries were better than budget and head grade…

Yes. Thanks, Mike. Before I pass over to Bill, I'll just maybe talk a little bit about the strategy, who we are and where we see ourselves going forward. . We're feeling pretty good about our long-term strategy, to say the least, over the last 12 years. And that strategy was to continue to look to grow production through accretive acquisitions and exploration irrespective of the market at the time, the gold prices at the time or the sentiment in the market. And we're really -- when we look back now, we're very pleased with the fact that we stayed with that strategy. It was quite contrarian at times. When you look back at the mines we built and the things we did over the last 12 years, it was often done at times when growth was out of favor. And it speaks to the fact of where we sit today because we persevered with that long-term strategy and we're one of the few companies to be building gold mines over the last number of years. So that's one of the reasons why we find ourselves in such a fortunate position. But it also gives us the benefit or the luxury of being quite ambivalent about M&A. We don't see a lot of great projects out there that we like, and we don't see a lot of good projects that we like at the price they're at today, frankly. And at the end of the day, we are going to be very focused on continuing to grow from our pipeline. Gramalote feasibility study in the first quarter of next year, I still think people -- a lot of people aren't understanding Gramalote yet. I think there will come a time -- it's a very good project. It's got lot of…

Yes. Thanks, Clive. Yes, I won't really go too much in production seeing that Clive has done a great job of putting it out. But there is one thing actually which you haven't asked me about, but I do want to state. We've had a continued amazing run on the safety side, right? You end up with the background of the COVID-19 and people working long shifts. We had a quarter with 0 lost time accidents at our operations, and that -- for the entire year, and that gives us 1 across all 3 operations. So we're seeing certainly our best statistics ever, which once again reflects on -- Clive was talking about the culture and the dedication of our employees, but it also shows us as an industry leader in some of the things we're doing for sure. And with that, I'll turn my attention to Fekola. As we talked after last quarter, there's really kind of 4 phases of the expansion, and I'll just quickly go through them. On the mining side, as Mike pointed out, we continue to be ahead of our development schedule. We -- the plan was really to double our mining production rate. We got the first 2 tranches of equipment in ahead of schedule. Great job of commissioning them under COVID-19. And those are in operation and working fabulous. We've got another tranche coming in before the end of the year, and we don't see any issues with that. It looks like it's on schedule, and the team is ready to commission. So on the mining side, ahead of schedule. On the milling side, we had previously announced that we would be ready to bring that thing into production full scale at the end of Q3. It looks like we will be at…

Okay. Thanks, Bill. I think with that, we'll -- operator, we'll open it up for any questions.

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Ovais Habib of Scotiabank.

Congrats on a good quarter. Mike, my first question, again it's really great to see that B2 is in a net cash position, and you're also looking to pay off the RCF by the end of Q3. On top of that, you've -- your dividend has been increased as well. So the question is, how are you looking at allocating the strong free cash flow going into 2021, especially if current gold prices persist? Like is it more or higher dividends? Are you looking at the construction of Gramalote and Anaconda? Exploration? I mean like can you give us a little bit of color on capital allocation, please?

Yes. I can tell you the kind of things we're going to consider. We can't really talk too much in detail about it yet until we get to decision point. Obviously, the dividend -- when you bump up a dividend like that, it's whether really -- you're going to maintain it, obviously, so I think you can sort of infer that from what we're doing this quarter. And then on the capital side, the big decision points that are coming up, the first one is Gramalote, where's the feasibility by the end of March. We'll know what we think we need for Gramalote and whether we want to go ahead, and the indicators to go ahead, as Clive said, are good. And then we're looking at Kiaka as well now. It's having a revisit of that and what that might look like and what we might want to do there. And then also with the drill programs that are ongoing in Fekola -- at Fekola for the Snakes and the Cardinal zones, we started to turn our attention to, based on the positive results there, what that might look like in the future as well and thinking about what capital allocations may be. So those are really the primary things, Ovais. I think I would say ahead with plans.

And just to add into that, the -- you've seen a lot of companies that are -- the dividend based on a percentage of free cash flow. We haven't gotten there yet, and it's just a -- right now, we're -- as Mike said, we're in a time of understanding soon our capital requirements going forward. Now when you look at Gramalote, we don't need to -- we can -- clearly, we're going to generate a gold price staying or near where they are. We're going to generate well over a couple of billion dollars in cash from operations over the next 2.5 years or so while you'll be building Gramalote. So you can clearly do it from cash flow. But there's no -- we're starting to see we're taking on a little bit of project debt along the way with that as well because it's out there and it's going to be extremely cheap. So we're -- that's why we haven't defined it as a percentage of free cash flow yet, because we're at a stage of understanding what our cash requirements are going to be in terms of capital, et cetera. I mean, for the exploration, you can probably assume we're going to continue to spend somewhere around $50 million a year, I think. Now we can give more detail on what we see in terms of sustaining capital going forward if you want to get into that detail on a separate call.

Sounds good. And just changing gears a little bit then, and my next question is for Bill in regards to the Fekola expansion. So the expansion was supposed to increase throughput by approximately 1.5 million tonnes per annum. In 2019, the mill was already running at over 7 million tonnes per annum without the expansion. So, I mean, could you see Fekola achieving approximately 8 to 8.5 million tonnes per annum instead of 7.5? And then if that's the case, is this rate sustainable? And how do you see the rent -- mill ramping up once it's completed at the end of Q3?

And so I'll answer it and then, John, can you help me afterwards. So if you remember, we always said it was going to be $1.5 million-plus what we think it could do when it became kind of fully production-wise. John and I had a lot of discussion on this, hard ore, soft ore. But the other thing which is of really interest but he keeps bringing up is that when you're running these things so hard, if you're running up at the top end, then you really risk the additional maintenance cost and everything else that goes with that. So what we can say is that we're very comfortable with the 7.5, and it's probably above that a little bit. But I don't think, until we get it commissioned and really see what this thing can do, that we're comfortable saying that we're above 8 or 8.5. I think the 1.5 million-plus, what it was originally designed at, is what we're comfortable saying and maybe a little conservative. I don't know, John, if you want to add that.

I agree with everything said there, Bill. Yes, it was designed for 7.5 million tonnes a year on hard ore. With softer ore, we will be able to achieve a higher production rate, but that'll depend on the mill feed blend coming from the mine. So after we run it for a while, we'll have a much better idea of what the ultimate throughput can be on softer feed blends. There are some...

The other thing we [indiscernible], we're drilling -- the reason we're -- one of the reasons we're extensively drilling Cardinal now is because Cardinal has the potential to bring in some additional ore, and it's very close, 500 meters approximately, from Fekola. So that -- and some of that's going to be softer ore. So if that continues to pan, then that could have an impact on production or that could be positive, obviously, throughput. Bill, fair to say that?

Yes. No, it's actually a fun exercise which you bring up, Clive. We're not only looking at Cardinal, but are the things -- or can we now realize the Anaconda area as saprolite and bring it down and put through the mill? Are -- is there hard sources there that we can bring down and add through the mill? All those studies are going on right now, Ovais. But certainly, we -- I think we all acknowledge that the mill has absolutely outperformed what the design has been for, and we see that there is the potential, if everything goes according to plan, that, that could continue in the future.

And in terms of the ramp-up, I mean, do you see that taking a quarter? Or is that a longer ramp-up?

No. Certainly, in our budget, by the end of September, we're going to be up and operational. John, I mean, am I out of line saying that? Certainly by the end of September, is it at full...

No. Yes, I agree with that, Bill. We'll be ramped up to design throughput by the end of September. And I was just going to add that, yes, when -- if we do blend in saprolite in the mill feed, we can -- we will be able to achieve higher than a 7.5 million tonne per annum throughput.

Your next question comes from Josh Wolfson of RBC Capital Markets.

Continuing the theme on the Fekola questions. For the third quarter, should we expect a steady-state production over the duration of the quarter? Or is there going to be any sort of commissioning-related downtime we should expect?

We have 10 days for the -- for all final tie-ins, but we are expecting a full production for -- full production for the quarter. I mean that's all factored in the budget and the way we're running right now. So -- and that's kind of 4 quarters evenly spread out. I think it's actually slightly less, but it's really -- it's within the margin of error of what we've been doing.

Got it. Okay. And then for the Fekola Mine license, I guess, which is slightly adjusted for the solar project, and also looking at where gold prices are today, when do you expect capital to have been repaid and the dividend start to be paid from that asset on a steady-state ongoing basis? .

You're asking when the initial investment, the loans that we put in to build the mine will have been paid up?

Yes.

I think now at these gold prices, you're looking in the next 2 years, the initial investment will be recouped.

Okay. And then last question on the commentary for Gramalote and looking at, I guess, what looks to be an optimistic outlook for that project. Is there anything else within the portfolio today which could potentially sort of come up as a higher-priority opportunity? Or is it safe to say that, that would be the #1 project? I asked just because the commentary on Kiaka was, I guess, more constructive in the current environment. And then potentially, if there's been more work done for Anaconda, could that be the case? Or is that not sort of the case for maybe a mid-2021 time line for Gramalote's decision?

Yes. No, I think it's hard to imagine any -- bumping Gramalote out of the queue because one, the event stage that it's at, there was a permit -- there's a permit and we're closing in on the final feasibility, as we said. And also, it's really got to -- as we said, we like the looks of it. At $1,350 gold, we thought it had a good shot. So I can't see anything bumping it out of the queue. Kiaka, not as robust a project as we see it today, has potential to get better, as we said, with some of the things we're doing through the power cost, et cetera. So I don't think Kiaka will likely bump it out of the queue. But we've always said we -- one of our keys to our success is our focus and our accountability and our doing things ourselves. So we're not going to suddenly start building 2 significant gold mines at the same time. So therefore, if Kiaka is a go and it looks interesting after this next round of number of months of updating it, then we might very well look to marry with a partner and -- with a responsible industry partner to advance it as one alternative. The other alternative would be to sell as it an asset. The government of Burkina Faso is going to expect a project like that to get developed, and they have a right to. In my opinion, if it's economic, somebody should build it. So -- but I don't see it as something -- time-wise and also quality-wise, I don't see probably Gramalote out of the queue. Anaconda, definitely, we're really intrigued by the potential for the Fekola's organization there and the sulfides. So we'll be in it hard at drilling. But once again, there may be a situation where some of it is being trucked from Anaconda area potentially down to the mill, some of the saprolite material. But I think you've actually -- we actually look at building another major facility. If we're successful in finding another multimillion-ounce deposit, let's say, at Anaconda area, that would become after Gramalote is my expectation in terms of if we going ahead and build another major mill and maybe share the solar power plant, et cetera.

Your next question comes from Geordie Mark of Haywood Securities.

Yes. Nice jump in the dividend there, was it? Maybe I'll just continue on the themes which Joshua and Josh -- Ovais did. On Fekola for mining, can you remind me of your stockpiling strategy or your cutoff that you're implementing there versus what the reserves are quoted at, I guess, 6.8 or something, and where the resources are quoted at for cutoffs, and if you see any sort of wiggle room in terms of looking at modifying stockpiling strategies to accommodate where your cost structure is and also where the gold price is moving?

For me, Randy had just come from site, and he's probably the most [indiscernible]. And Randy, I don't now if you want to comment on that.

Is Randy on?

Yes. Sure. So the stockpiling strategy at Fekola is -- it's got a number of different stockpiles. Obviously, the high-grade ore down to 0.8 grams per tonne right now. But we're also stockpiling much lower down to 0.65 grams per tonne in a subeconomic pile that in today's gold price is definitely more economic. We are currently looking there and at Otjikoto at the different cutoff grades and our stockpiling strategies. It's been hard to keep up with this quick increase in gold price, but that's what we're doing, and that's kind of the strategy right now. But we're in pretty good shape at Fekola already and what we're stockpiling in our subeconomic pile.

Okay. And also on the -- if we look at Cardinal, for instance, I mean, it's obviously pretty proximal to the existing pit. I mean can you give us an idea of the scale of work you've been doing there on the drilling given what it could add and its proximity?

Tom, do you want to talk that?

Yes. Geordie, right now, we've -- Cardinal is -- it's got high mineralization over 800 meters. And then down plunge -- or the strike length of it is a couple of kilometers. And where -- we've drilled so far close to 26,000 meters on it -- sorry, 21,000 meters. Original plan was 20,000. And because of the drilling ongoing, we'll probably get close to 30,000, 35,000 meters drilled on it this year. So we've shifted our focus from Mamba right now to get Anaconda to a point that we can do some decent mine planning -- or, sorry, get Cardinal to do some decent mine planning. But it remains open at depth and also a little bit to the south. So it's sort of a developing situation, but it is -- it does have some size potential for sure.

And extend on that one. Is that the same type of gold and silver mineralization? Or is that a different star and you may have to do some more metallurgical work to see how it fits in?

We're doing some metallurgical test work right now. And it seems -- I would suspect it's going to be very similar. It is slightly different, but that's -- they're just minor differences. I would suspect metallurgically there won't be too much difference. I don't know, John, if you could add anything more with the results to date.

Yes. All we received so far, I'd say, is on the samples that we're going to be testing. But -- so we'll know within the next week or 2 metallurgical results. But as you say, Tom, we're expecting similar results. But we will confirm that through the metallurgical test program.

Okay. Great. And a quick question on Kiaka. Obviously, given the scale of the original sort of plan, the 12 million tonne per annum, are you looking at a potential to do what you've done at Otjikoto, Fekola and Masbate in terms of potentially doing something small and ramping up over time? Or you'll see where you go in the trade-off balances power availability and cost potential?

[Indiscernible] understanding here, Geordie, but I think you're asking about what is the Kiaka potential to start something smaller and grow it. Frankly, that's -- so far, that's not something we've seen as a really viable alternative. It's kind of a very -- pretty consistent kind of 1-gram ore body. It's the good things about it. But at the end of the day, we don't see a high-grade starter hit there. And, well, we acquired it for, I don't know, something like $25 million was the actual acquisition cost. When you go back to Volta, we always felt that it needed a better gold price. But we thought ore exploration was a success. We had some exploration success at Toega, but it was too far away to help Kiaka. So then we did a deal with that, as you saw. So we don't see Kiaka as being something that's got to be done as a large-scale [inaudible]. But, well, from what I -- from our view, we don't see a ramp-up as an option there.

Your next question comes from Carey MacRury of Cannacord.

Maybe a bit early for this question, but just looking back to the feasibility on Fekola into 2021 and given what you've learned there this year in terms of grade and how the plant is performing, and obviously, you've got the expansion coming around the corner, but I think production was expected to dip into 2021 in that feasibility study, so I'm just wondering what's the opportunity for flat production or even higher production in 2021.

The question is versus 2020, what's the production in Fekola?

Yes, 2021 versus 2020. We're supposed to -- the original feasibility study is going to get [indiscernible].

Yes. Well, certainly, I think we are going to have -- if you want, I think we're going to have slightly less production in 2021. But what you have to remember is we really have a bucket there, a pretty consistent bucket over 5 years where we're talking about 500,000 ounces over those 5 years -- I mean -- sorry, 550,000 ounces over those 5 years, and we're pretty consistent with that. Where they actually fit within that bucket, obviously that depends on where we end up on our pay positions during the year. Can we prioritize and bring ounces forward? What I will tell you is that we're continually looking at the best ways to bring ounces forward. So 550,000 over 5 years, and...

That does include any potential from Cardinal or from Anaconda.

Yes. That's actually a very valid point. One of the things we're looking at now is how do we even -- and we -- as you know, we don't know how the mill is going to outperform. So we are now making some wild swings at the fence to see, is there additional capacity there? And how would we fill that if there is? And whether it's from Cardinal or it's from Anaconda or even maybe some in the northern zones, which have yet to be really talked about too much.

And how quickly could you bring those sort of ounces in? Like is there any permitting requirements there? Or is it pretty straightforward?

Yes. It's straightforward. We -- remember, we own the license. So we own the license to the north as well. Most of the stuff we're talking about is in the Medinandi Permian license, which is where the gold deposit is at. So that's got to be relatively easy like the Cardinal area. If it is to the north, we would have to do some work with the government to get an agreement with them as far as how they're going to share in it or are we going to toll up. And all those things are -- I mean, the government has already come to us and said they're completely open to that, and they want us to develop that as quickly as possible.

There are no further questions at this time. I turn the call back over to Mr. Clive Johnson.

Okay. Thanks, everyone, for your time. And thank you, operator. We look forward to talking to you again soon. Thanks, everyone.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.