B2Gold to invest C$19M in Snowline Gold

Snowline Gold Corp. March 14 announced that B2Gold Corp. is making a strategic investment of just over C$19 million in the Yukon-focused exploration company by purchasing nearly four million Snowline shares.

"We are excited to welcome B2Gold as a growth-focused, long-term, value-driven investor," said Snowline Gold CEO Scott Berdahl. "B2Gold is a major global gold producer with a strong track record of growth built on a demonstrated commitment to communities, sustainable mining and employee safety. Their interest in Snowline is a sound endorsement of the company we are building along with the quality and geological potential of our assets."

Under the investment terms, B2Gold has chosen to purchase 3.94 million flow-through shares common at an issued price of C$4.86 per share, for an aggregate gross proceeding of up to C$19.16 million.

Snowline intends to use the gross proceeds from B2Gold's investment to support advancement of exploration on the company's Yukon mineral properties, which will qualify as "Canadian Exploration Expenses" and "flow-through mining expenditures" under federal law.

With seven properties split between Rogue, Einarson, Ursa, Cynthia, and Rainbow in the Selwyn Basin near Yukon's eastern border with Northwest Territories, and the Tosh and Cliff projects closer to Yukon's western border with Alaska, this investment is a welcome influx of funding to truly unlock this portfolio's potential.

The common shares to be purchased by B2Gold on the back end of the private placement, combined with three million common shares of Snowline that B2Gold recently acquired on the open market, represent approximately 5% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the gold exploration company upon completion of the offering.

Furthermore, B2Gold will be granted a right to maintain their pro rata ownership of up to 5% in connection with future equity financings as well as following the exercise of convertible securities of Snowline.

The company expects the closing of the offering to occur on or about March 28. All securities issued in connection with the deal will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the official date of closing, per applicable Canadian securities law.

"We'd like to commend the Snowline exploration and management teams for their strong exploration work conducted thus far across their large mineral tenure in the Selwyn Basin," said B2Gold President and CEO Clive Johnson. "Their highly prospective land portfolio boasts district-scale, untapped greenfield potential, and we believe their Valley discovery to be one of the more significant discoveries in Canada in recent history. We have great respect for what Snowline has achieved and look forward to following the progress of their exceptional team moving forward."

B2Gold's investment in Snowline seems to demonstrate the major holds strong interest in Northern Canada projects. In February, the gold mining company with operations in Mali, Namibia, and the Philippines made a roughly C$1.1 billion (US$820 million) offer to buy out Sabina Gold & Silver Corp., owner of the Back River gold mine project in Nunavut.

"The acquisition of Sabina represents an exciting opportunity to develop the significant gold resource endowment at the Back River Gold District into a large, long-life mining complex," said Johnson.

The Goose Mine at Back River is on track to pour its first bar of gold in 2025, which would mark B2Gold's first producing mine in Canada.

The proposed acquisition is expected to close by mid-year, pending Sabina shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Further details on B2Gold's proposed buyout of Sabina can be read at B2Gold makes C$1.1B offer for Sabina in the February 13, 2023 edition of North of 60 Mining News.