Our Stories
Meet B2Gold’s Chair of the Board – Kelvin Dushnisky
March 13, 2024
B2Gold welcomed Kelvin Dushnisky as Chair of the Board in July 2023. Kelvin has a long career history with mining companies, most recently serving as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. There he led the execution of the organization’s strategic priorities and oversaw a global portfolio of mining operations and projects in Africa, South America and Australia, along with exploration interests and investments in Canada and the USA. Prior to AngloGold Ashanti, Kelvin had a career with Barrick Gold Corporation, ultimately as its President and a member of the Board of Directors.
As Kelvin settles into his role as Chair of the Board at B2Gold, we asked him to share some of his experiences that led him to join B2Gold, his initial impressions of the Company, and what about his new role excites him.
Congratulations on your appointment as B2Gold’s Chair of the Board. Tell us a little about your experience and journey to this role.
I was raised in rural Manitoba. After an undergraduate degree from the University of Manitoba, I studied at the University of British Columbia, initially in Sciences but then gravitated toward and completed a degree in Law. I started working with a Vancouver-based consulting company and worked with a few other companies along the way and then I joined one of my clients, Sutton Resources — a junior mineral exploration company. That company was eventually acquired by Barrick and led to a 16-year career there, starting in the Legal department. After a number of steps along the way at Barrick, I eventually became President and a member of the Board. It was a very unique learning experience. I was given responsibilities and opportunities there that I wouldn't have been given anywhere else. It was a great place to be then, and those earlier times at Barrick remind me in many ways of B2Gold.
Then from Barrick, I went to AngloGold Ashanti, which gave me the opportunity to experience working and living abroad, in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a fascinating and rewarding experience, which I enjoyed very much. There I was also on the Board. I am presently on the Boards of other companies, and, formerly, of a number of industry associations. I had the honour of being Chair of the World Gold Council, as well as being a member of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) and the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), among others.
Which of B2Gold’s operations have you had an opportunity to visit so far – or plan to soon, and what has been your initial impression of the Company?
Actually, my initial impression of the Company predates my role as Chair. I've followed B2Gold for a long time — back to the Bema days. I've always admired the Company for what it has done and its management team. It has a well recognized culture that I'm now experiencing from being inside the Company. I'm seeing it unfold in real time. It's very consistent with what I expected it would be. Of course, I also had some insight into the Company when I was at AngloGold and we were partners with B2Gold in the Gramalote project in Colombia. I saw upfront and personally how the Company operated, with a heavy emphasis on trust and transparency. And again, it was very consistent with what my expectations were, and I left with a very favourable impression.
The first B2Gold asset I visited was the new Goose project in the Back River gold district in Nunavut. That was a fascinating experience. It’s a great project and it was nice to be back in northern Canada where I spent time during my consulting period. I knew about B2Gold’s reputation as an accomplished, experienced and effective project builder. So, to be able to see that on the ground as that project is taking shape, that was a lot of fun. I was there with the CEO and the management group as part of a mining analysts tour. To experience how the analysts look at the project, and the relationship of trust between senior B2Gold people and the investment analyst community was also very positive to see.
Very recently, I visited our mining operations at Otjikoto in Namibia. I had heard great things about Otjikoto, its people and about Namibia more generally, so it was a welcome opportunity to visit and experience that firsthand.
Otjikoto is unique to say the least. In terms of it’s setting, I don’t know of another operation anywhere that’s nestled in the middle of a functioning game reserve. It’s breathtaking.
Equally impressive is the mine itself. Otjikoto has a reputation for exceeding expectations, which one can easily understand from the discipline, focus, and attention to detail that permeates through the operation. It is no coincidence that one could eat off the floor of the Otjikoto processing facility and that it consistently delivers +98% recoveries. This, coupled with the enthusiasm and commitment of the entire team, leaves me hopeful that with the new underground focus, we will see production continue at Otjikoto for years to come.
Speaking personally, the only downside to the visit is that my wife (who joined me) absolutely loved the experience, but she left with the mistaken impression that I’ve spent my career visiting mines like Otjikoto!
There are many exciting projects and developments taking place at B2Gold at the moment. What are you most interested in seeing happen in the near future with the Company?
Near term, I would say what's going to be most interesting to see is the development and completion of the Goose project, targeting production in the first quarter of 2025. 2024 will be a really busy year in progressing that project and keeping it on track, which I'm confident the management group will do. So that's going to be fascinating to watch — and so nice to be watching a project like that come to development in Nunavut, a return to Canada, and I know B2Gold will be a well-received partner with northern communities.
Also, as I mentioned earlier, I have prior experience with the Company as a partner in Gramalote, so it will be fascinating to watch how that unfolds with B2Gold now owning 100% of it. We'll keep our fingers crossed that it works out as we hope it will.
In your opinion, what are the two or three most significant matters to be addressed by the Company that will determine the success of B2Gold?
Well, that's an interesting question. I think one of the most important things to address will be maintaining the Company's culture. It's a big company, but run like a family business in many respects, and maintaining that is going to be vital. And I would say that acting responsibly with transparency, with a sense of purpose, focusing on local stakeholders and all the things that are essential to run this business will help to determine the Company’s success. That's very much in the B2Gold DNA, and it's a well-established culture. But those are things that mustn't be taken for granted because they can also change quickly. Once they do, it's very hard to recover. I'm impressed that from what I've seen so far — that entrepreneurial, family spirit runs consistently throughout the Company. It's embedded in the way of thinking throughout the organization, from the Board, through senior management, all the way across the business. I saw that at the Goose project and Otjikoto as well, and I'll be surprised if I don't see the same thing eventually at the other operations. So, in terms of the significant matters to be addressed, it's not a matter of addressing something that needs to be changed, it's a matter of ensuring it isn't changed.
The Company is also well known for doing what it says it will do and keeping its promises. If it makes a commitment, it lives up to its commitment. Like every other company, there are going to be times, despite its best efforts, that it falls short of its objectives. But in that case, I think the key is recognizing it, communicating it, doing everything possible to either rectify a situation or try again to accomplish what it has set out to do, and to the extent possible, never repeat the mistakes. Being open and honest with its stakeholders in doing that, again, it reflects how the Company has operated to date. And I don't see that changing.
The senior leadership are also very involved in those commitments, and I think that's really important. For example, our CEO Clive Johnson and the senior management group were just in Mali, and the key reason was to meet with the government about our operations there. I think it's important that government sees the ultimate decision-maker in the room. Clive and the senior management group, they work very well together — seamlessly, and that's really key. They can almost finish each other's sentences they've been operating together that long! That’s a competitive advantage. At the end of the day, the CEO has to be able to make a decision, and government decision-makers need to know that’s who is in the room, fully supported by a strong senior management team. It's a very effective combination.
With your prior experience as CEO of AngloGold Ashanti, Chair of the World Gold Council and your career at Barrick Gold, among many other industry roles, what current challenges in the mining industry, or gold specifically, would you like to see improve?
Well, I think one of the challenges at the moment is the fact that, as well as the Company has been operating and given where we see the gold price, and it’s not just B2Gold, but all the companies in the gold space are trading at values that don't feel fairly reflective of the underlying business. That creates a sense of frustration. However, I think that as we proceed through 2024, and as the Goose project is moving toward production and the Company continues to do exactly what it says it will do, continues to meet its guidance as it has quarter after quarter after quarter for, I believe, eight years now. That will ultimately be reflected in the share price.
So, it's a matter of staying patient, committed and focused, and at the end of the day, controlling what the company can actually control. It can't control the gold price, but fortunately that's at a good level. By managing all the other moving pieces well, like it has, that will continue to pay dividends and eventually reflect in the share price. And by the way, the company continues to have one of the highest dividend yields in the gold sector, and that will also continue to be recognized and distinguish us from our peer group.
You join a very experienced and diverse Board of Directors at B2Gold. As the new Chair, what are the principal expectations of you?
That's an interesting one. To me, the role as a non-executive Chair is very clear. My responsibility, together with my Board colleagues, is to make sure that as directors, we have in place proper governance for the Company, that there's effective and clear communication between the Board and management, and that management has the focus and resources to execute on the strategy that's been established between management and the Board. Importantly though, the Board doesn't run the business, management runs the business, so our role as directors is to ensure that everything is in place, so that the Company is governed properly and policies and procedures are effective, and that the executive group is functioning as it needs to. Then we must be ‘hands off’ and let management run the business, which they do exceptionally well.
It's incumbent on management to execute on the strategy, and ensure the Board is informed of all the things that are necessary in terms of its responsibility and the overall governance mandate for the business. And that's where the relationship between the Chair and CEO is very important. There has to be a very open, trusting, direct line of communication between us so that I can be sure the Board is informed on things that matter, that management is dealing with, and that we can be supportive as possible. And management needs to understand the constraints the Board operates under, and from a public regulatory perspective, the things that need to be in place, and so far, it’s working very, very well.
Part of the benefit I have of being a CEO myself and from being on a number of Boards is that I have a fairly well-developed sense of the difference between the role of a director (and a Chair) versus management. I've spent a lot of time, in fact, in making sure that we've got a structure that operates well, that doesn't encumber management, but, at the same time, management is able to effectively provide the information the Board needs for its decision-making. In the last six months since I started, we've made solid progress ensuring that the committees are functioning as they need to.
Part of it, too, is how does this Board helps make sure the Company preserves that entrepreneurial culture it has established? We have to run it as a proper public company, but at the same time, we want to encourage management to continue running the business as it has very effectively. My earlier comment about running the business as a big family as opposed to a big bureaucracy is really important. I believe every member of the Board understands that. Certainly, management does. I could say that at least my short-term report card would be ‘A's across the board in terms of everybody trying to do what they need to do. Of course, I benefit from the hard work of our previous Chair, Bob Cross, and past Board members who did the heavy lifting to set us up for success.
What can we expect to see of your leadership style?
In this role, I'm not leading anything — I’m more of a cheerleader than a band leader, so to speak. I'm collaborating with the Board to make sure we do what we need to do to support the management group, and to ensure that the leaders of the business are able to do what they need to do unencumbered by the Board, but supported by the Board. At the same time, ensuring the Board is able to do what it needs to achieve to make certain that it's fulfilling its mandate to shareholders, that proper governance is in place, and that the business is being operated as a strong public company. So that's the balance. But either way, I'm enjoying it. I have been around a lot of other companies, from really small ones to the bigger companies in our sector, so I've been able to see the spectrum, I couldn’t be happier to have landed where I have at this exciting point in the Company’s evolution. I hope I can contribute to its future success.
