Sept 21 (Reuters) - Gold miner B2Gold on Monday
sought to reassure investors that Mali's political situation was
improving after a military coup last month hit shares in the
company and other Mali-focused miners.
Shares in B2Gold and other miners in the West African
country, including Barrick Gold, AngloGold Ashanti
and Hummingbird Resources, slid on the day of
the coup but the companies said their operations were unaffected
by the political upheaval.
"The political situation is headed in the right direction,"
B2Gold CEO Clive Johnson told the Gold Forum Americas conference
on Monday.
"The new military leadership is ... working closely with the
business community and others to make this a seamless
transition."
Retired colonel Bah Ndaw was named interim president of Mali
on Monday while Colonel Assimi Goita, the leader of the junta
that seized power on Aug. 18, was appointed vice president.
It was unclear whether the appointments would satisfy the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has
threatened to impose a total embargo on landlocked Mali if its
conditions are not met.
B2Gold expects its Fekola mine in Mali to produce between
590,000 and 620,000 ounces of gold this year, according to the
company's website, up from 455,810 ounces in 2019.
Earlier on Monday Kinross Gold said it sees a very
low risk of political unrest spreading from Mali to its northern
neighbour Mauritania, where the Canadian company has a gold mine
it plans to expand.
(Reporting by Helen Reid and Jeff Lewis
Editing by Jonathan Oatis and David Goodman)