Quelle: Kevin Michael Grace of The Gold Report (3/26/14)
The price of gold may be enjoying a double-digit increase so far this year and some equities may even have doubled their value, but Jeff Killeen of CIBC World Markets says it's not time to jump into metals with both feet. Be selective, he counsels. In this interview with The Gold Report, Killeen shares the higher-quality names that have prospects for development.
The Gold Report: "What other gold companies have you rated Sector Outperformers?"
Jeff Killeen: "Among the producing companies that I cover, B2Gold Corp. (BTG:NYSE; BTO:TSX; B2G:NSX) is my top pick and rated Sector Outperformer. The company has an attractive cost profile across its asset base, and all-in costs are expected to decline in 2015 and capital spending at the Otjikoto mine in Namibia will wind down next year. This is a mine that's currently being constructed now. We expect all-in costs to be sub-$900/oz in 2015 and that the company will be positioned to generate significant free cash flow by next year. Otjikoto coming on-line will contribute to a nearly 50% increase in gold output from 2013 to 2015.
That does not take into account the recently discovered Wolfshag zone. I would expect that once the company is able to incorporate the higher-grade Wolfshag zone into the Otjikoto mine plan, we'll see further improvement in cost and gold output from that project.
Beyond the development of Otjikoto, B2Gold's management has shown improvements at each of the company's three projects currently in production, and we're expecting modest increases in output from each of the La Libertad, El Limon and Masbate mines this year. With B2Gold projected to exceed a half-million ounces (0.5 Moz) gold by 2015, that certainly puts it into a fairly substantial production base.
The bottom line is that B2Gold is a company with attractive margins and significant near-term growth that's all internally funded. That's a great combination for any producer to have."
The Gold Report: "There were concerns raised about B2Gold's acquisition of Volta Resources Inc. Do you think that's a good fit?"
Jeff Killeen: "It was an acquisition the market didn't expect, but I can understand why the company likes the asset. It liked the exploration and management team. Plus, it was a rather small acquisition, at roughly 3% of its market cap, for something that could be important in the longer term. I think it made sense."
www.theaureport.com/pub/na/...tiously-optimistic-mining-market