“The acquisition of Sabina represents an exciting opportunity to develop the significant gold resource endowment at the Back River Gold District into a large, longlife mining complex,” said Clive Johnson, president and CEO of B2Gold. “B2Gold has strong construction expertise and the experience to successfully develop the fully permitted Goose project and unlock considerable value for the shareholders of both Sabina and B2Gold. The Back River Gold District has multiple high-potential mineralized zones, which remain open, and we are confident that the district has strong untapped upside with numerous avenues for resource growth.”

A March 2021 updated feasibility study on the Goose project outlined a 15- year life of mine, producing an average of 223,000 ounces per year (oz/y) of gold (average production of 287,000 oz/y over the first five years) from 3.6 million oz of mineral reserves averaging 5.97 grams per metric ton (g/mt) gold. Most (97%) of the procurement for the Goose project has been completed, pre-stripping has begun at the Echo pit, and 100% of plantsite civil works have been completed.

B2Gold will leverage its in-house construction and global logistics teams, with specific expertise in remote, cold-weather environments (including winter-ice road construction and operation) from constructing the Julietta and Kupol mines in Russia as part of B2Gold’s predecessor company, Bema Gold.

With an estimated average head grade of roughly 6.0 g/mt gold, the Goose project ranks among the highest-grade undeveloped gold projects globally. And all of the Back River deposits (Goose, Echo, Umwelt, Llama, and Nuvuyak) are open along the 8 km of iron formation, providing considerable potential for mine life extension.

The Back River Gold District is located in southwestern Nunavut, Canada, approximately 520 km northeast of Yellowknife. The district comprises mining leases and claims covering approximately 58,374 hectares. There are five mineral claim blocks on the 80-km belt. The most advanced is the Goose project. The second most advanced is the George project, situated approximately 60 km northwest from the Goose project. There are three other underexplored claim blocks named Boot, Boulder, and Del. Significant infrastructure exists at the Goose project site along with the port facility at the Bathurst Inlet.