B2Gold’s $740m Gramalote permit hearing: project economics and schedule for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Colombia’s environmental regulator ANLA will hold a 10 November public hearing on B2Gold’s revised permit for the $740 million Gramalote open-pit gold project in Antioquia, a prerequisite for construction ahead of a targeted late-2029 start-up. The scaled-back plan, based on a 2025 feasibility study, envisages 11 years of mining and 13 years of processing, with average output of 227,000 oz/y in the first five years and total initial plus sustaining capital of about $1.18 billion. The decision will test Bogotá’s push to revive mining investment, which has fallen 88% since 2022.
Technical Brief
- Revised permit seeks approval to relocate the processing plant and multiple supporting infrastructure elements on site.
- ANLA has already briefed over 500 residents from San Roque and Yolombó ahead of the 10 November hearing.
- Original environmental licence dates from 2015 and covered a larger-scale open-pit operation than the current plan.
- Gramalote’s indicated resource stands at 155.6 Mt @ 0.70 g/t Au (~3.52 Moz contained).
- Inferred resource adds 120.9 Mt @ 0.52 g/t Au (~2.0 Moz), providing upside for future mine planning.
- Post-construction capital is estimated at US$444 million, of which US$376 million is sustaining capital.
- B2Gold assumed full ownership in 2023 by acquiring AngloGold Ashanti’s remaining 50% interest in the project.
- Colombia’s foreign mining investment fell from US$1.51 billion (2022) to US$178 million (2025), framing Gramalote’s permitting as a sector test case.
Our Take
With Gramalote’s low indicated grade of 0.7 g/t gold, B2Gold is effectively balancing a lower-margin Colombian build against higher-grade assets like the Goose mine in Nunavut, which our coverage shows delivering double‑digit gram-per-tonne intercepts; permitting delays here could tilt capital and management attention further toward Canada and Mali.
The government’s stated need for a 10% expansion in the mining industry to hit a 6% growth target gives B2Gold and other operators in Colombia additional leverage in negotiations around timelines and conditions for projects like Gramalote and Petrobras’ Sirius gas project, even as environmental licensing remains the formal bottleneck.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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