B2Gold would look at “compelling” M&A, firm undeterred by Mali political upheaval

B2Gold's Fekola Gold Mine, Mali

B2GOLD would consider mergers and acquisitions “… but they have got to be compelling,” the firm’s CEO, Clive Johnson, told Bloomberg News.

“If merging with another company makes sense to increase our production profile or bring more developed projects, we will have a look at it,” he said.

B2Gold recently completed the expansion of processing capacity at its flagship Fekola mine in Mali, the West African country currently in flux after ousting its president in August. Johnson said the company was not discouraged by Mali’s political predicament.

“The current situation doesn’t deter us. We have always for years been prepared to go where others fear to tread,” he told the newswire. B2Gold operates in Namibia as well as the Philippines and has an exploration joint venture with AngloGold Ashanti in Colombia.

Johnson said B2Gold has also held talks with Zimbabwe’s government. In the past, the company has sought exemptions from a law that requires miners to sell all their metal to the country’s central bank. “We have always been driven by geology not geography,” he said of the discussions.

B2Gold announced on September 10 it would be debt-free once it had repaid a $425m revolving credit facility (RCF) of which about $375m had been settled.

Assuming a gold price of $1,900/oz for the second half of its financial year, B2Gold forecast an operating cash flow of more than $900m for the full year.

Production guidance for this year has been maintained at between one million to 1.06 million ounces.