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Johannesburg - Namibia's second gold mine, which is still in the construction phase, has poured its first gold ahead of schedule, says the company.
The B2Gold Corporation's president and chief executive officer Clive Johnson said the gold had been poured at the Otjikoto gold mine."
The first gold ingot had been supposed to be poured by Monday, but occurred three days earlier.
The Otjikoto gold mine is 300km north-east of Windhoek, near Otavi.
Planned mill expansion
It is 90% owned by the Canadian mining company B2Gold Corporation and 10% by EVI Mining, a Namibian empowerment group.
Construction for the ND2.4bn open-pit mine started in January 2013.
Otjikoto was expected to produce between 140 000 to 150 000 ounces of gold in 2015 at a cash operating cost of around $500 per ounce, the company said in a statement.
Once the planned mill expansion was completed in the third quarter of 2015, annual gold production was expected to increase to around 200 000 ounces annually.
