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| But it is an excellent way to maintain a very strong balance sheet |
| We're proud of that |
| I think we've presented our case here about 2024 and as a transitional year leading into getting back to some excellent years of very strong years in cash flow and an increase in production as we bring Goose on and do some of the other things we were doing in 2024 |
| So we're really well-positioned, I think, in terms of any trucking scenarios there for regional |
| But we did put out a news release in January just highlighting that we did have very positive exploration drill results from the Antelope deposit that we're looking at now |
| In conjunction with that, and really reflecting how well the operations perform on the cash flow side, we had $714 million operating cash flow for the period, sorry, for the full year, including $205 million for Q4, and for full year cash flow from operations per share was $0.58, so again, very good performance by the site and getting that done |
| We do have a top safety record on site, one of the better record track records in our industry |
| So really more of the same as we saw as we went through the year and very solid results from the operations |
| But all in all, we're very happy with how this is going |
| And we should set record gold production again in 2025 with Goose coming on and then better production, more with trucking ore better grade at Fekola getting into 2025 and much less capital expenditures across the Board |
| So ping is very good as far as bringing this |
| Continuing to benefit, I think, from lower fuel prices against budget that we saw |
| So going into 2024, we are in an extremely strong financial position |
| And we were going at the end of the year, and subsequent to the year-end, we've completed a prepayment of gold revenue financing, which is an excellent way to further strengthen our financial position, given the large capital expenditures that we have this year from some of the things I talked about, but also obviously boost construction as well |
| Just another couple of things to remind you of, we still have obviously as a company, one of our priorities and one of our great strengths is also exploration and our exploration success not only in finding more gold around our existing operations or mines or acquisitions we've made, but also making additional discoveries as a group, as a company over a long period of time |
| We've already had one very good result |
| So I think the guy -- well, the guys have done an excellent job, as we hope to see |
| So we'll be out there talking to people about how B2Gold is going to continue to be a very successful gold producer, very strong financially and ESG and continue to grow gold production as we move forward into 2025 |
| We'll talk about the record gold production in 2024, talk about the eight year in a row that the company has met or beaten its expectations our guidance, which is, I think, a tremendous track record that we intend to keep going into 2024 and beyond |
| By drilling the deepest hole ever drilled on Umwelt and that was a really good result |
| Looks like there's some good economics there, because we've got good grade material starting off an oxide material to truck good grade material with no blasting, no crushing, and the roads are already built |
| It's a good quarter and a good year for the gold price |
| I think for the full year, we came in $1.9 billion at an average price of $1,946 an ounce, which, when you think about the fact that we budgeted at $1,700 an ounce, that's a good result |
| So I think with that, I'll pass it over to Mike to give you an overview of 2023, again, another very strong year for the company |
| So that financing was an excellent financing |
| And I would say again that that on a consolidated basis is a record annual production level for B2Gold |
| Could you just talk about what we're learning from this road construction and what, if anything, we would do differently next year? It seems like it's been a very good success |
| And so first of all, I want to say emphasize that the changes that we made from last year have been very successful |
| So we think we're in really good -- all of the winter road equipment |
| So 2025, we were looking to bounce back to another very strong year |
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| So on the earnings side, net income for shareholders for the quarter was negative $113 million as a result of impairment charge or $0.09 negative share, year-to-date, $10 million or $0.01 per share |
| So we've had a trouble spot there in the past |
| As far as further changes, this year with El Niño, we had a little bit of a challenge getting started with the warmer temperatures to start |
| We have a bit lower production for this year because we didn't get the permits from the government, the export license from the government of Mali in time to produce the additional 80,000 to 100,000 ounces |
| I want to start the call off by again extending the condolences to all those at B2Gold for the tragic loss of life in Mali February 15, there was an armed attack on a convoy of our buses and unfortunately four people were killed in the attack |
| Our discussions with the government about the real impact of certain aspects of the 2023 code and the negative impact on potential future investment, which is the reason why we unfortunately had to tell them under the 2023 code, the second mill was off the table |
| We've had a couple interruptions and normal operational interruptions throughout the winter, but absolutely on schedule and no concerns about having those stockpiles ready for no startup |
| For us, the most significant issue here is that we have new projects that we know would be pulled in under the new code |
| And that's really Fekola as expected; we had some changes in timing there between Q3 and Q4 just with some delays |
| That's below our original guidance range for the full year, $670 to $730, so good result |
| And overall, this resulted in a non-cash net impairment charge of just over $200 million for the combined Fekola Complex cash generating unit |
| So it's still a bit unknown where we hope that our arguments |
| As I mentioned, we already have that road infrastructure built, so should we look at a trucking scenario to the Fekola mill? And I think given the uncertainties about the new code and what we saw was in there, it's not as attractive for things like the tax and royalty regime and some new funds that they've built in there |
| But like I said, we're offsetting these with a higher production rate |
| One thing I will highlight, most significant transactions impacted Q4, so we did have an impairment for the Fekola Complex of just over $200 million, maybe a couple of comments on that |
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