Labor troubles are not just for retailers this holiday season, as Canadian mining stock B2Gold (TSE:BTO) finds itself on the bad end of a strike. It was enough to send shares down nearly 5% in trading.
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Several employees at the Fekola mine in Mali started a strike, according to the company. However, it’s not be a particularly long strike, with plans to end it on December 5. B2Gold suggests that the strike was related to “disciplinary action” leveled at certain employees who were engaging in “illegal activities” at the mine. These activities included calls for “go-slow” actions, as well as “an illegal sit-in at the Fekola management office in August 2024.”
Of course, B2Gold made it clear they were ready to negotiate, and the Fekola mill is apparently still running full-tilt. The move will not even damage production targets, with B2Gold still on track to meet its 2024 guidance of between 420,000 and 450,000 ounces of gold.
Malian Mining Proves Perilous
There is something amiss in the Malian mining corridor as just last week Barrick Gold (GOLD) reported that four of its employees at the Loulo-Gounkoto mine had been arrested, and were charged ahead of an upcoming trial. Barrick, for what it was worth, “refute(d) these charges,” but planned to “…continue to engage with the Malian government to find an amicable dispute settlement…”
It is odd that two separate incidents would take place at gold mines in the same country within a week of each other from two different firms. The potential for some kind of chicanery at work here is undeniable, though is strictly speculative. It could all be a coincidence, but the timing is compelling as well as the location. Either way, it does not bode well for any other gold miner in Mali, and, potentially, throughout Africa.
Is B2Gold Corp a Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on TSE:BTO stock based on eight Buys and four Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 7.91% loss in its share price over the past year, the average TSE:BTO price target of C$6.15 per share implies 58.22% upside potential.
