Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 22, 2018) - B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO) (NYSE AMERICAN: BTG) (NSX: B2G) ("B2Gold" or the "Company") announces a positive initial Inferred Mineral Resource estimate for the Toega Project located in Burkina Faso.

Highlights

• Initial Inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 17,530,000 tonnes of 2.01 grams per tonne (“g/t”), containing 1,130,000 ounces of gold, indicates the potential to be an open-pittable deposit
• Toega mineralized zone now extends 1,200 metres along strike, and is 430 metres wide and up to 400 metres deep. 
• Toega mineralized zone remains open along strike to the north-northeast and down dip
• Recent drilling has intersected good grade in a potential new mineralized zone. Drilling is ongoing to infill and determine the ultimate size of the Toega zone, and to further test the new mineralized zone

Initial Resource Estimation Details

The effective date of the Mineral Resource estimate is January 8, 2018. A total of 165 drill holes (37,776 metres of drilling) were used in the estimate. Inferred Mineral Resources are supported by a nominal drill hole spacing of 100 by 100 metres; however, 65% of the reported resource has been drilled to a 50 by 50 metre, or tighter, drill hole spacing. 

Inferred Mineral Resources reported at different gold cutoff grades are presented as a sensitivity case. 

 1. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability 

Mineralization zone models at nominal grade thresholds of 0.2 g/t gold and 0.8 g/t gold were built using lithology, mineralization and structural measurements to control the 3D modeling. Assays were capped at 2.5 g/t within the 0.2 g/t shell and 18.0 g/t within the 0.8 g/t shell. Capping levels were based on statistics and spatial consideration of the high-grade assays. Gold assays were capped prior to compositing to 2 metres. Grade variability within the mineralization zones is relatively low. Block model grades were estimated using Ordinary Kriging within the two mineralization domains. 

A total of 6,343 bulk density measurements using the water-displacement method on dried core samples were completed at the project site. For tonnage and metal estimates, densities were estimated to the block model for fresh rocks; density for each regolith type was assigned a constant value. 

The Toega Inferred Mineral Resources are amenable to open-pit mining methods and are reported within a pit shell run using a gold price of US$1,400/oz., an average gold recovery of 86.2 % (based on preliminary metallurgical testwork), an assumed pit slope parameter of 50 degrees and preliminary costs based on input from other B2Gold mining operations. Costs used for pit generation are a mining cost of US$2.50 per tonne mined, processing cost of US$10.00 per tonne and G&A cost of US$2.10 per tonne processed. 

Mineral Resources have been classified using the 2014 CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. All tonnage, grade and contained metal content estimates have been rounded. Rounding may result in apparent summation differences between tonnage, grade and contained metal content.

The Mineral Resource estimate was prepared in-house at B2Gold with Tom Garagan, P.Geo., B2Gold's Senior Vice President of Exploration, serving as the Qualified Person. 

Mineral Resources are reported in accordance with NI 43-101 and the 2014 Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum "Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves" (CIM Definition Standards). Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Recent Drilling

In 2017, over 20,000 metres of combined reverse circulation and diamond drilling were completed in 72 holes. 

Recently, reverse circulation drill hole NKRC039, collared immediately west of the current resource pit boundary, was deepened by diamond drilling and intersected a new zone of mineralization grading 3.24 g/t gold over 22.20 metres, including 14.0 metres at 4.78 g/t gold, starting at a depth of 175.80 metres down hole. Diamond drill hole NKDD092, drilled at the northern end of the resource pit, intersected 32.5 metres, grading 5.09 g/t gold at 306.5 metres down the hole. Diamond drill hole NKDD089, drilled 200 metres down plunge of the main Toega mineralization, intersected an extension to mineralization, grading 5.89 g/t gold over 9.64 metres, starting at a depth of 421.36 metres down hole. Drill hole NKDD080, which returned 4.11 g/t gold over 47.10 metres from 300.91 metres (including 10.0 metres at 7.99 g/t gold) is at the lower boundary of the current resource. 

QA/QC on Sample Collection and Assaying 

Three laboratories were used for gold assaying of Toega samples, including ALS (Ouagadougou and Johannesburg), Actlabs Burkina Faso SARL and BV Abidjan. Senior project staff periodically visit the assay labs for review of procedures. 

Quality assurance and quality control ("QA/QC") measures on assaying and sample preparation performance include regular insertion of certified reference (CRM), field duplicate, preparation duplicate and blank sample materials prior to submission of samples to the laboratory. Approximately 16% of the samples submitted for assay are QA/QC type samples. QA/QC data is reviewed on a continuous basis and before data is imported into the database. Comprehensive QA/QC reports are generated and reviewed monthly by senior staff. Data imported into the project database are subject to validation which includes checks on surveys, collar coordinates, lithology data and assay data. Quarterly or bi-annual samples are submitted to a secondary lab for check analysis; these results are reviewed upon receipt to mitigate potential biases with the primary assay lab. Sample security measures include moving all samples from the drill site to the Toega camp yard at the end of each drill shift, with sample shipment tracking coordinated between B2Gold and the lab. 

Metallurgical Testwork

Initial metallurgical testwork was completed by SGS Minerals Services in Lakefield, Ontario, on two master composites and 12 variability samples. Bench-scale gravity tests using a combination of a Knelson concentrator and Mozley mineral separator, followed by whole ore cyanidation of the gravity tails were used to evaluate the master and variability composites. The testwork produced metallurgical recoveries ranging from 77.1 to 93.2, with an average recovery of 86.2%. 

Qualified Persons

Tom Garagan, Senior Vice President of Exploration at B2Gold, a qualified person under NI 43-101, has approved the exploration information and mineral resource estimate contained in this news release.

John Rajala, P.E., Vice President of Metallurgy at B2Gold, a qualified person under NI 43-101, has approved the metallurgical information contained in this news release.