B2Gold To Temporarily Suspend Masbate Mine In The Philippines

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) announced that while it is continuing to operate Fekola mine in Mali and Otjikoto in Namibia, it has temporarily suspended mining at its Masbate mine in the Philippines owing to temporary shortage of fuel. The mill at the Masbate mine will continue to operate in the meantime. However, the company expects to meet or exceed its targeted consolidated gold production for first-quarter 2020, backed by significant reserve of stockpiles. The company’s gold production guidance for the year is between 1,000,000 and 1,055,000 ounces.

The Masbate Mine has temporarily suspended mining activities effective Mar 21, 2020. However, the mine is anticipated to meet its budgeted gold production estimate for first-quarter 2020 as the mill will continue to operate and process material from stockpiles. New regulations imposed by the Philippine Government to ensure that all materials, including fuel, arriving on Masbate island are not contaminated with the COVID-19 virus is the primary reason behind the fuel shortage faced by the Masbate mine. The company's intention is to restart mining once fuel supplies have been restored.

B2Gold assured that the Fekola Mine in Mali continues to operate as usual. The company expects the mine to meet or exceed its budgeted gold production estimate for first-quarter 2020. Backed by significant reserve of stockpiles, the mine can process through second-quarter 2020. B2Gold expects to meet its guidance of 590,000-620,000 ounces of gold from the mine this year. Further, the expansion of the Fekola mill is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2020.

The Otjikoto Mine will likely meet its budgeted gold production estimate for first-quarter 2020 as all supply lines remain open and it continues to receive supplies critical to operating at full capacity. It also has a significant reserve of stockpiles that it can process through second-quarter 2020 without a significant change to its annual guidance.

Additionally, the company has implemented several measures and introduced additional precautionary steps to manage and respond to the risks associated with the virus to ensure the safety of employees and surrounding communities while it continues operate.

The virus has become a major threat to public health worldwide. While gold has gained from its safe haven demand, other commodities are bearing the brunt of the outbreak. Mining companies are halting their operations as different governments are imposing restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

Price Performance

B2Gold’s share price has gained 0.6% in the past year, compared with the industry’s rally of 4.8%.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

B2Gold currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) , Franco-Nevada Corporation (TSX:FNV) and Novagold Resources Inc. (NYSE:NG) . While Newmont and Franco-Nevada currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Novagold carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Newmont has an anticipated earnings growth rate of 72% for the current year. The company’s shares have gained 19% in the past year.

Franco-Nevada has an expected earnings growth rate of 24.2% for 2020. The stock has rallied 30% in a year’s time.

Novagold has an estimated earnings growth rate of 11.1% for fiscal 2020. The company’s shares have surged 62% over the past year.

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