B2Gold Corp. (BTG) Q1 2026 Earnings Report, Transcript and Summary

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to B2Gold Corporation's First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] The conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the conference over to Clive Johnson, President and CEO of B2Gold. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for our first quarter earnings call. This has been a period of solid operational performance and disciplined cost management against the backdrop of the ongoing volatility in global commodity markets. Our focus on safety, sustainability and operational excellence continues to drive reliable production and strong cash flow generation across our portfolio. Today, we'll review our financial results, highlight key developments across our assets and discuss our outlook for the remainder of 2026. In light of recent events in Mali involving the conflicts between government and certain groups, the company also wishes to report that its business operations in Mali continue in the normal course with such activities occurring at far distances from the company's operations. The company continues to closely monitor the situation and take precautions to ensure the safety and well-being of persons of our employees and contractors in Mali. Next, I would like to acknowledge the important leadership transition we shared earlier this year, announcing my retirement as President and CEO effective June 4, 2026, and the appointment of Mike Cinnamond as B2Gold's next President and Chief Executive Officer. It has been a great privilege to have led B2Gold since its formation in 2017 as a start-up exploration -- junior exploration company. Since then, we've grown the business through timely and well executed acquisitions to make the company where it is today. And I'm especially proud of the fact that we have lived up to our values of fairness, respect and transparency and our reputation as an efficient and transparent operator have enabled us to attract and retain some of the best people in the mining industry. In addition, I'm proud of the contributions to the communities in which we operate around the world, and our goal is to lead them in a better place than when we arrived. Now is the right time to pass the torch and making this decision. I'm very confident in Mike and our strong executive team to lead our next stage of growth. I'm proud of my contributions to B2Gold and look forward in my new role as Chair Emeritus to watching and create long-term sustainable value for our shareholders in the years ahead. After 19 years, this will be my last quarterly conference call with you. And while I can't say it's always been a pleasure, I think we've overall had productive relationships and there's currently a good strong group of professional analysts. We realize you have challenging jobs as you attempt to cover all of the companies in our sector. With that, I'll turn it over to Mike Cinnamond.

Thanks, Clive. I'd like to say I've had the opportunity to work closely with you and the team for many years now, and I'm stepping into this role with a strong understanding of our business and I take confidence in the foundation that's been built on. We've got great people. We've got great assets. And as we go through this transition, my focus is going to be on maintaining that foundation while continuing to strengthen execution and deliver consistent results for our shareholders. And I look forward to working -- continue to work with Clive during the transition period as well as Kelvin Dushnisky, our Executive Chair, our Board of Directors and the management team and all of our great people at B2Gold sites around the world as we help this company achieve its full potential. And also I want to congratulate Clive in his role as Chairman of Emeritus. And I think that reflects its recognition of his lifetime's contribution to both our company and to our industry. Moving on to the results. The first quarter was a strong start to the year at all of our operations with the Fekola led Goose, Masbate and Otjikoto mines all outperforming expectations. Financially, it was a strong quarter. GAAP earnings were $0.15 per share and on an adjusted basis was $0.19 per share. The company recorded revenue of nearly $1.2 billion in the first quarter, and that included delivery of just over 66,000 ounces under our gold prepayment obligations. And as of today, we're in our final 2 months of delivery. So we'll have delivered into the remaining prepaid ounces by the end of June. Operating cash flows for the first quarter were $539 million, and free cash flow was $362 million, another strong result, highlighting the continuing cash generation potential, I think, of our operating assets in this gold price environment. We've been investing for the last 2 or 3 years as we build Goose and move things along at our other sites, and now we're starting to see that free cash flow [Technical Difficulty]. This performance highlights the strength of the business and it provides us with significant financial flexibility. Looking at our balance sheet, we remain in a strong financial position with cash and cash equivalents of $479 million at March 31, '26, and that's up from $380 million at the end of '25. And also subsequent to the quarter end, we repaid the remaining $75 million outstanding balance on our revolving credit facility, which leaves the full amount of $800 million on the facility available for future draws plus another $200 million accordion feature. So lots of financial strength and liquidity there. And during the first quarter, we repurchased approximately 16 million shares for $80 million. And subsequent to quarter end, we repurchased a further 4 million shares for $18 million. And I think we expect to continue repurchasing shares as the year progresses. When we look at the value of our business and our share price, we don't believe that the value of our business is reflected in our share price. So I think you'll continue to see us look at that repurchase as we go through the balance of the year, like I said. Subsequent to the quarter end, we also completed the sale of our 70% stake in Fingold Ventures to Agnico Eagle for $325 million in cash. And with that, we also have an agreement with Agnico to enter into a collaboration agreement related to our respective operations in Nunavut. I think this agreement creates a framework where we can share operational knowledge and best practices across mining, processing and logistics in Arctic environments. And we see Agnico Eagle as a strong long-term partner in the region. And I think this is also consistent with our focus on disciplined capital allocation and strengthening the overall quality of our portfolio. Overall, we continue to remain excellent financial flexibility to repay our obligations, fund the growth initiatives and very importantly, return capital to our shareholders, both through dividends and through buybacks. And my priority for sure will be to maintain a disciplined approach to capital allocation while preserving that flexibility and optionality as we go forward. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Bill for an operational update.

Yes. Thanks, Mike. It's been a minute since I've been able to start out this way, but I'd say overall, we're very pleased with the operating performance during the first quarter with our operations producing approximately 238,000 ounces, which is above expectations. In Mali, gold production at Fekola is expected to be relatively consistent throughout the year. The company expects to meet the Fekola Complex production guidance range for the year, provided the permit -- the exploitation permit for the Fekola Regional is received by the end of June 2026. At Goose, we continue to expect the operations to ramp up throughout the year. As we reported in mid-April, we experienced a fire in certain areas of the crushing circuit. As noted, there were no injuries reported and no medical treatment was required related to the fire. The fire damage was localized to the crushing circuit. The company has developed a preliminary revised mill processing plan based on the use of mobile crushers to feed crushed ore directly to the fine ore stockpile while repairs to the crushing circuit are completed. The company has estimated the repairs to be completed in the third quarter of 2026 at a cost of approximately USD 7 million. These repairs will coincide with the first phase of the upgrades to the Goose mine crushing circuit comprised of the previously announced addition of the run-of-mine bin and apron feeder, plus a new larger jaw crusher and rock breaker. The total cost of the first phase of crushing circuit upgrades is expected to be approximately $11 million. B2Gold reiterates its previously disclosed estimate that the Goose Mine crushing circuit will be able to operate at an average daily capacity of approximately 3,200 tonnes per day by the end of Q3 2026. The company estimates the impact of the lower availability of the crushed ore as a result of the fire will be limited to the second quarter of 2026 and that the availability of crushed ore in the second half of 2026 will not change from previous estimates. The company now forecast second quarter production of 18,000 to 20,000 ounces versus the prior internal forecast of 29,000 ounces. Additionally, based on studies conducted to date, B2Gold has identified a second phase of crushing circuit upgrades that are scheduled to be implemented in the first half of 2027 in order to increase the name-plate capacity of the crushing circuit and enable it to run at an average of 4,000 tonnes per day. The total cost of Phase 2 is anticipated to be between $20 million and $30 million. The second phase of the crusher upgrade includes the installation of a larger cone crushers, additional surge bins and feeders to optimize crusher performance and upgraded conveyors to support the higher throughput. I just want to reiterate that we -- the company reiterates its full guidance for the Goose mine of between 170,000 to 230,000 ounces in 2026. Over the medium term, B2Gold still expects gold production to average approximately 300,000 ounces per year at the Goose mine. At Masbate, the operation continues to perform well with a world-class safety record. I think they're plus 7.5 years now, LTI-free, knock on wood. The company has secured a guaranteed fuel supply contract for the next 3 months, and we anticipate another year of consistent operations in 2026. At Otjikoto, the operations had a solid first quarter and has admirably managed the transition from open pit mining to underground mining, processing low-grade stockpile supplemented by underground ore. The company is actively developing the Antelope underground, which is expected to provide higher-grade ore to supplement the low-grade stockpile production during the period of 2028 to 2032 and result in meaningful production profile for the Otjikoto mine well into the next decade. With that, I'll turn it back over to Clive.

Thanks, Bill. We're opening up for questions now. Michael. Okay, we're ready to take questions, operator.

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Wayne Lam with TD Securities.

Just wondering as we -- at Fekola, maybe as we look out to 2027, production is expected to improve next year in the mine plan as you kind of get through the stripping phase. But just wondering what percentage of that production is expected from Fekola Regional in '27? And then just assuming you get the permit in June, I guess, would there still be a large portion of stripping that's been deferred into next year just given the delayed access?

So maybe I'll answer them in reverse order, if you don't mind. So we've already started pre-stripping at the regional project. Remember, not only did we only start pre-stripping, all the infrastructure is in place. So all is required there is the permit for us to go. So it's not like this delay is causing us to delay stuff into 2027. So as long as we get a permit by Q2, we're reiterating our regional guidance for the Fekola Complex. The first part related to 2027, I don't think we've actually put out at this time, 2027 guidance anywhere. So clearly, it's going to depend on what happens over the next little bit with the permit and how it all -- what the percentages are. But you are correct. There is a large portion of ounces that do come from the regional permit in 2027.

Okay. Great. No, yes, I know. I was just talking about the prior mine plan. But maybe just at Goose, I just want to also understand a bit more in terms of the ramp-up of the capacity at the mill. If I take the Q1 grade recoveries, I think the 20,000 ounce guidance implies around 1,000 tonne per day run rate. So just wondering, as we look kind of ahead to Q3, is that a progressive increase in tonnage through the quarter to get from 1,000 to 3,200? Or is it a step change based on the first phase of the crusher install? And then just similarly, to get to 4,000 tonnes, again, is that a gradual increase? Or is that another step change? Just trying to understand the quarterly cadence in production profile over the coming year.

Yes. So you got the first part, absolutely correct. In kind of Q2 and as we move forward, you're right, we're kind of sub-2,000 for sure as we get going. But we will be ramping up. It will be a ramp-up to the 3,200. And that's primarily because in Q3, in September, that's when a lot of the big change out happens. So there is kind of that ramp-up between September and October. So the answer is yes. It's a ramp-up to 3,200. And then as we get into kind of 2027, you're looking at Q1, Q2 running at that 3,200 tonnes per day rate. And that -- we definitely will see as we get towards the end of Q2, that 4,000 ounces. So it's -- I would say it's a very linear ramp up. I think you're going to see there will be days where we're not installing stuff, you're going to see 4,000 tonnes, and then you're going to see days where we're putting stuff in. So on average, you're going to see 3,200.

Okay. Great. That's really helpful detail. And then maybe just last one, just on the field situation at Masbate. Does that 3-month supply take you out to the end of June? And then just wondering what the impact on cost there is at the mine ex the hedging that you have in place?

Ex the Hedge, so I don't know. I don't want to talk about the cost. The answer is it does take us through -- really, basically, what has happened is we have a supplier that is kind of guaranteed a 90-day kind of running supply. So when you say through the end of June, the answer is yes. But if you ask me again next week, I'd say the end of June plus 1 week, right? So right now, we have a rolling 90-day supply. And the cost itself, I'll let Mike comment on versus the hedges.

Yes. I think it's fair to say Masbate is the most sensitive of our operations to price increases. I think that's the way to look at it. We obviously look at it on a consolidated basis and are pretty comfortable with the overall cost profile because we've got solar in our operations, our 3 of our operations. We've got that hedging program. And as you know, at Goose, we already bought the fuel that we're going to use this year. But Masbate is the one operation that probably is seeing the most direct fuel impacts.

The next question comes from Ovais Habib with Scotiabank.

Very congrats on a solid quarter and free cash flow that was generated. Before I jump on to my questions, I just wanted to say thanks to Clive to all the color and the guidance that you have provided on the conference calls as well as all the investor dinners over the past, I would say, 1.5 decades. I just want to say congrats on the retirement to you as well, and please stay in touch. So just moving on to questions. Sorry, Clive?

Just thanks, Ovais. I appreciate it.

I just wanted to move on to the questions then. Again, just moving on to the situation in Mali. Really great to hear operations are not being impacted. Are you having any sort of discussions with the regulators right now in terms of the regional permit? Or are they all kind of distracted with the situation in Mali?

We are continuing to have discussions. In fact, there was some Q&A that was completed on Monday with the mining ministry. So there still is ongoing discussions, but there is no further process in this. It is really just now a decision of the ministry to put it forward to the Council of Ministers. As you say, there has been obviously some significant distractions over the last couple of weeks. So we do understand that there has been delay, but there certainly has been an ongoing dialogue.

Okay. That's great to hear. And just in terms of question asked by Wayne regarding, obviously, the diesel exposure across the group. Obviously, we're seeing pressures on the cost side on diesel. But in terms of any supply stress issues that you see on any of your sites in terms of reagents or explosives that you're witnessing, any sort of color there?

Yes. So we already talked a little bit about Masbate, right? Masbate, we -- historically we have gone shorter term and barge fuel in. So that's actually been a change on our side that we've tried to lock into a little longer-term contract. At Fekola, yes, we have seen -- we certainly have seen some changes in the way we operate. We have a preferred contractor that we use that has basically been working through all the issues. He's actually gone out and got additional help. So we don't see it on our end. We still continue to get fuel, and there is no restriction on us and we're operating as designed. But I think some of the vendors have -- they've changed their modus of operating that.

And any sort of color on the reagent side or kind of exposal side, fuel I kind of -- I'm kind of okay with. It's more on the supplies of the fuel and reagents. Any color there?

Yes. Well, this actually goes back to -- let's actually -- remember, when we went through COVID, we operated unhindered. And one of the ways we did that is we opened up our supply chain and looked at the various different ways that we could get materials to site and really kind of put plan A, B, C and D in place. And so some of those have certainly come into play in reagents, whether it be that we're changing locations to make sure that we don't have to ship stuff from -- that goes past the Middle East, and all of that stuff is in play. So the answer is we're not seeing an impact, but we certainly are -- it's something that we are watching, and it is an active discussion inside our supply chain.

Excellent. Thanks, Bill for that. And this -- maybe this question is for Mike. Again, big free cash flow quarter. You've received the $325 million payment from Agnico as well for the sale of the Fingold and the prepays are falling off in June, which should improve your free cash flow profile heading into the second half. So are you looking to get more aggressive on the buybacks, dividends? Any sort of color that you can provide there, that would be great.

Yes. I think you've seen us ramp up there, Ovais, already from last year, what we did in Q1. And I think the answer is yes. We want to use our cash expeditiously. But I think if we continue to see a share price where it is now and the kind of asset value that we see in our assets, then I think you will see us aggressively pursue that. It will be opportunistic, right? There's no fixed formula to do it. We jump in when we see what we think is weakness in the price. And you'll see us continue to pursue that. We budgeted to do that internally through the rest of the year.

The next question comes from Carey MacRury with Canaccord Genuity.

Just maybe a follow-up on Goose. I'm just wondering how the underground mining is progressing versus your target. And I assume you're still building stockpiles ahead of the mill kind of coming back maybe this summer?

Yes. So Q1, we were down just a little bit, but I would say within what I would call kind of a normal range. Q2, we're expecting to be fully online and the stockpile does continue to build up. That's really what Q2 is about.

And what's the underground mining here again, if you can just remind us?

What are they doing right now? I can't remember, if I'm being honest. Let me -- Carey, let me look that up real quick and get back to you.

The next question comes from Don DeMarco with National Bank.

So congratulations, Clive. Best wishes on next step. Certainly, it's been a privilege working with you over the years. First question, at Goose, the fire damage focused on the crushing circuit. So I see a crusher is being brought in. What's the time line risk to the repair? And taking a step back, do you have adequate spares on site to the extent that's practical? And does this make you relook at your annual supply stocking and maybe potentially extend the inventory of other items?

Okay. So it doesn't impact. As described at the first, it doesn't impact the schedule. It basically kind of fits right in line so much so that we're now looking at where do we have double -- we have overlap in labor, right? So it doesn't impact the schedule for the upgrades. We did not have some of the key stuff on site. You wouldn't expect that you would have fully replaced a lot -- had a lot of the screens as everything on site, in particular, as much as the fact that we can [indiscernible] stuff in Canada. So we are looking at it for sure. But remember, we just came into operation just a little bit ago. So all that's in play. Some stuff we think we may have a little bit too much of inventory because we ordered for the sea lift and we brought it in [indiscernible] some stuff we're seeing now that we need additional based on the hardness of the ore or the way we're operating. So all that stuff is in play right now. So the answer is yes, we're looking at inventory very closely.

Okay. And then over to the sale of Fingold and the collaboration agreement you have with Agnico in the north. To what extent do you already collaborate with Agnico? And looking ahead by sharing best practices, would this involve sharing labor, maybe cross appointments, across operations? Just trying to understand what the scope of this agreement might entail.

Well, in terms of what we already do, we already liaised with Agnico fair amount, like we see them periodically, and we do talk. And so this agreement, I think, really just put a bit more structure around that. We definitely want to focus on things like best practices, how you order goods in and how you get them in because we all have the same logistics issues. The mining function. Labor, I wouldn't say it's sharing labor per se, but certainly labor best practices and where we're sourcing our labor workforce from and how we bring them in and out. It's really all -- overall, it's just how can we both benefit by saying this is what's worked for us and maybe this is what hasn't. And then also, I think you'll see us probably look at collaborating on what can we do in terms of community relations and working with the territory as we go forward. It's really -- it's a holistic sharing exercise, I'd say.

And Carey, just to your earlier question on the underground development. 10 meters -- I could remember it was 10 or 12 for Q2, but it was 10 meters for Q2 per day, ramping up to 12 meters in Q3.

Okay. And Mike, maybe just as a follow-up to that. I mean, we see the government of Canada has these initiatives to expand the development of the north of building new airports and runways and things like that. Does this potentially put any pressure on the labor availability for the mine?

I mean ultimately, they developed like significant infrastructure activities, there probably will be more competition for labor up there, but that's always the way right now. So I think for now, we watch the situation and see what unfolds, but it's going to take a while for them to build some of that infrastructure. And I think we'll remain flexible as we go forward. I think we also think there are significant labor pools out there, and we're certainly something we're focused on as well. Where do we bring people and from.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Anita Soni with CIBC World Markets.

And firstly, I just wanted to say, echoing Ovais' and Don's comments, congratulations, Clive, on a long career in mining, which we know is not easy. I've known you for, I think, 20 years now. I covered BMI in 2006 that's when I first met you. So I know you've had a lot of success along the way and best wishes on your next steps here. The first question on grades at Goose. So you had some pretty good positive grade reconciliation this quarter. Can you just talk about like was it areas of the pit or specific areas in the underground mine where you were seeing that grade reconciliation? Could we expect maybe budgeted grades for the rest of the year to also follow suit? Or is there something that we should be thinking about in different areas that you'll be mining in for the rest of the year?

Yes. So you're correct, both open pit and underground to date have been reconciling very well. And we don't see that changing. Through unwell, the open pit and the underground, all of our preliminary testing, everything shows that the grade is going to hold as designed.

Okay. And then secondly, just a question on the tonnage in Q2. I just want to get an idea of what kind of tonnage that you're expecting for the second quarter and what you would expect to exit the second quarter, just so I can kind of figure out the evolution over the next 4 or 5 months before you get the remediation measures in place in September, October.

So you're talking -- I assume you're talking about Goose?

Yes, for Goose.

Okay. Yes. We talked about Goose, where we're going to be kind of sub 2,000 for Q2. And if I'm being -- the reason is we're going to be -- within Masbate, mobile crushers are working right now, but we are, in fact, running them like on a 4-day cycle where we're running the mill. The mill still runs at 4,000 tonnes a day without a problem. So we're basically building up the stockpile in the dome, mining it and then doing the same thing. And then in Q3, we're going to be ramping up as we get the second mobile crusher, which will help us ramp up to that kind of 3,000 tonnes per day, ultimately 3,200 tonnes. That was going to come online kind of in June, July. So we see that through Q3 at kind of 3,000 or 3,200.

3,000 to 3,200 in June, July. Okay. And then just lastly on Fekola, just a point of clarification. From my understanding, the latest -- I know you haven't given any guidance for 2027, but the latest technical report shows, I think, 2 years of a stripping campaign. Is that not correct?

Yes. But we'll still be -- we need 3 months really to get going, and we'll start pushing ore through the mill after 3 months. So yes, we will be stripping while we're mining.

Yes. But I thought the idea was I think that the latest technical report had production relatively similar to 2026. Is that not correct?

No, I think '27 is a pretty good year. Yes. When I say pretty good, as in kind of -- maybe it is when I think 60 to 80 is probably in that range.

We have a follow-up question from Carey MacRury from Canaccord Genuity.

I just want to ask about the outperformance on production in Q1. Is there any of the assets we should expect lower in Q2 outside of Goose?

Well, I think we saw like outperformance across all of them. I think we'll hold on to it, right? Like I don't think we're going to see like a step down in Q2 from any of us other than what we mentioned for Goose just because of like reacting to some of the fire damage and keeping Goose bringing it back up again. So I think the other assets, they continue to perform well. I don't think we expect we'll give back any of the gains that we had.

Yes. I just -- it's Michael. I would just elaborate that Masbate, if you look at the guidance for the year, the midpoint was around 180,000 ounces. And so we think 45,000 ounces per quarter is still a good estimate. It obviously has outperformed in Q1 as it has in certain years. But I think we're not sure that's going to continue on through the year. So Masbate could give back a little bit, but it's relatively small.

Okay. That's great. Also, Clive, I just wanted to say congrats and all the best in your retirement as well.

This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Clive Johnson for any closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Okay. Thank you all for your good questions.

This brings to a close today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.