Good morning GoldBuzzers, and welcome back to your Tuesday update!

If you've been checking your portfolio lately and feeling a little queasy, congratulations - you're officially experiencing what gold bugs call "character building." Last week's 5%+ nosedive was gold's worst single-day drop since 2013, and for a lot of newer investors who jumped on the bandwagon during this year's epic rally, it probably felt like the world was ending.

But if you've been in this game long enough, wild swings are just part of the deal. Veterans remember 2013's crash, and countless other moments when gold acted less like a "safe haven" and more like a caffeinated teenager. For you folks, last week was Tuesday.

For everyone else - especially the younger crowd we're trying to bring into precious metals - welcome to your first rodeo. This is what volatility looks like when you're holding real assets instead of index funds. It's uncomfortable. It's stressful. And if history is any guide, it's also temporary.

So whether you're a grizzled gold veteran or someone who bought their first silver coins six months ago, welcome to the party!

Let’s dive in.

Gold Holds Above $4,000 After Wild Week

Gold steadied above $4,000 per ounce on Monday, clawing back some dignity after last week's brutal 5%+ plunge. The selloff came after US and Chinese officials reached a framework agreement in Malaysia over the weekend, which temporarily killed the safe-haven bid.

The preliminary deal appears to avert Trump's threatened 157% tariff on Chinese goods and sets up what could be a historic meeting between Trump and Xi later this week in South Korea.

But gold bulls aren't exactly panicking. The metal is still up 54% year-over-year, and with the Fed almost certainly delivering another 25-basis-point cut at this week's October 28-29 meeting, lower rates should keep providing tailwinds for non-yielding assets like gold.

But for now, buckle up - volatility is the new normal.

The Setup: While a lot of gold investors were obsessing over the senior producers and sexy exploration plays, B2Gold just casually doubled in 2025. Despite the current correction, they’re still up 104% YTD at $4.96, this "boring" mid-tier miner just made anyone who bought in January look like a genius. And they’re doubling Gold’s own performance, which is up 53% YTD. Sometimes the best trades are hiding in plain sight.

With a market cap now pushing $6.5 billion, B2Gold has proven that consistent execution + operational excellence + a gold bull market = serious wealth creation.

What B2Gold Actually Is: Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Vancouver, B2Gold runs four mines across the globe: Fekola (Mali), Masbate (Philippines), Otjikoto (Namibia), and the newly commissioned Goose Mine (Nunavut, Canada). With a market cap now pushing $6.4 billion and targeting 970,000-1,075,000 ounces of production in 2025, they're the definition of a mid-tier producer – too big to be exciting, too small to be safe, or so everyone thought.

Remember when B2Gold reported Q2 earnings and the stock initially dropped 6% because they missed revenue estimates by $20 million? That was the gift of the year. Here's what actually happened:

Q2 2025 Reality Check:

President and CEO Clive Johnson highlighted a robust performance across their operations, particularly at the Fekola, Masbate, and Otjikoto mines, where production exceeded expectations TipRanks. The market finally realized that missing revenue by 3% doesn't matter when you're printing money at these gold prices.

Fekola (Mali) - The Cash Cow Everyone Feared: Producing 500,000+ ounces at sub-$800 costs, this mine in "risky" West Africa is generating $1.6 BILLION in revenue at current gold prices. Mining activities at the Fekola and Cardinal open pits are anticipated to contribute between 485,000 and 510,000 ounces of gold production in 2025. Plus, they just got approval for underground operations adding 25,000-35,000 ounces initially, ramping up significantly by 2026.

Goose (Canada) - The Arctic Money Printer: After spending C$1.54 billion, Goose finally poured first gold in June 2025. Sure, they cut guidance to 80,000-110,000 ounces due to crushing capacity issues, but at $4,005/oz, even a troubled Arctic mine is worth $400 million in annual revenue. Current daily throughput is approximately 75% of the 4,000 tonnes per day design capacity - and improving.

The Overachievers Nobody Noticed:

At $2,500 gold (where we started 2025), B2Gold was a decent but uninspiring play. At $4,000 gold? Let's do some kindergarten math:

Suddenly that "boring" mid-tier miner doesn't look so boring. The market cap went from $3.1 billion to $6.4 billion, and honestly? It might still be cheap.

The Victory Lap:

The Fundamentals:

1. Leverage to Gold Prices: With cash costs around $745-$800/oz and gold at $4,000, B2Gold is generating roughly $3,200 per ounce in margins. On a million ounces, that's $3.2 BILLION in gross profit. The market finally did the math.

2. Operational Excellence: While other miners stumbled, B2Gold just kept executing. President and CEO Clive Johnson highlighted a robust performance across their operations, particularly at the Fekola, Masbate, and Otjikoto mines, where production exceeded expectations. Boring? Maybe. Profitable? Definitely, yes!

3. The Goose Wild Card: Sure, Goose had teething problems, but at $4,000 gold, even a troubled Arctic mine prints money. Those 100,000 ounces are worth $400 million in revenue.

Everyone was so worried about Mali risk that they forgot to notice Fekola was producing 500,000+ ounces at sub-$800 costs. At $4,000 gold, that's $1.6 BILLION in revenue from one mine. Suddenly, that political risk premium looks like the buying opportunity of the decade.

All those concerns about revenue misses, Mali exposure, and Goose delays? They mattered at $2,500 gold. At $4,000 gold, they're rounding errors. The bears were playing checkers while gold was playing 4D chess.

B2Gold went from trading at 8-10x cash flow to probably 12-15x (still reasonable for a producer growing to 1.1 million ounces). The market finally recognized that:

B2Gold just delivered one of the best risk-adjusted returns in the gold sector by doing absolutely nothing special except executing consistently while gold went vertical. They didn't find a world-class deposit. They didn't revolutionize mining. They just kept digging rocks out of the ground competently while the commodity gods smiled upon them.

The Bottom Line: B2Gold's 104% gain in 2025 is a masterclass in why you buy quality operators with production leverage when you smell a commodity bull market. While everyone debated jurisdictional risk and operational hiccups, patient investors who understood the simple math of $4,000 gold just doubled their money.

Sometimes in investing, boring competence plus commodity exposure equals extraordinary returns. B2Gold was that trade in 2025, and anyone who recognized it isn't just rich – they're rich AND vindicated.

That’s a wrap for Tuesday, folks. Have a good week and I’ll see you on Thursday.

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Rick Adams
Founder, GoldBuzz
rick@goldbuzz.com