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B2Gold Corp.: B2Gold Corp. Announces Positive Results from the Diamond Drill Program at the Mocoa Copper-Molybdenum Project, Co

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 20, 2009) - B2Gold Corp. (TSX:BTO) ("B2Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results from the 2008 diamond drill program at the 100% owned Mocoa copper (Cu)-molybdenum (Mo) porphyry project located in the south of Colombia.

Previous diamond drilling at the Mocoa property consisted of 18,321 metres ("m") in 31 holes conducted by the United Nations and Ingeominas in the late 1970's to early 1980's. This drill program resulted in the delineation of a non-National Instrument 43-101 compliant historical resource of 306 million tonnes at 0.37% Cu and 0.061% Mo, using a 0.25% Cu plus 0.025% Mo cut-off and a specific gravity of 2.7. Highlights of the historical drill results are shown in Table 2 below.

In 2008, B2Gold completed a total of 5,122.69 m in nine diamond drill holes on the Mocoa property. Drilling was carried out over an 875 by 550 m area and tested the extensions of the deposit to the north and northeast as well as to confirm previous drilling results with twin holes. B2Gold's 2008 drill program also analysed the drill hole samples for Rhenium ("Re"), which were not analysed in the drill core from the historical program. Highlights from the 2008 drill program are shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1 - Mocoa Property - B2Gold Drill Hole Results Holes 32-40 (1)

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 From To Length
Hole # (m) (m) (m) Cu (%) Mo (%) Re (ppm)
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32 66.00 505.96 439.96 0.182 0.029 0.145
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including 96.00 402.00 306.00 0.229 0.032 0.159
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33 366.00 549.24 183.24 0.137 0.006 0.028
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34 124.00 600.00 476.00 0.422 0.034 0.191
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including 124.00 442.00 318.00 0.578 0.047 0.272
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35 194.00 699.13 505.13 0.355 0.053 0.238
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including 414.00 699.13 285.13 0.426 0.072 0.317
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36 112.00 611.73 499.73 0.323 0.031 0.196
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37 500.00 757.42 257.42 0.349 0.038 0.224
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38 694.00 805.89 111.89 0.305 0.022 Pending
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39 No significant values - lost hole
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40 No significant values - target depth not reached
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(1) True thicknesses of these drill intercepts are not known at 
 this time

Assay results from the 2008 drill program confirmed the results from the Ingeominas drilling with the B2Gold holes containing slightly higher Cu and Mo values. Holes 32 and 34 twinned previous holes M26 and M7 respectively as shown in Table 2. Hole 35 tested the area between previous holes M31 and M17 in the northern area of the deposit and intersected significant Cu-Mo mineralization at depth and hole 36 was drilled to infill areas between M1 and M18 and returned 499.7 m at 0.323% Cu and 0.031% Mo.

Five holes totaling 2,706 m tested the northeast and northern extensions of the deposit. Northeastern located vertical hole 37 showed good grade Cu-Mo mineralization at depth. Northern vertical hole 38 returned encouraging Cu-Mo values at depth to the end of the hole at 806 m. Drilling has shown the deposit to be open to the north and northeast. For details of the results of these holes, please refer to Table 1.

The Mocoa property consists of four contract claims totaling 7,830.66 hectares ("ha") and two claim applications totaling 3,960.73 ha located in the Department of Putumayo 465 kilometres southwest of Bogota. Mocoa lies within a belt of Early to Mid-Jurassic magmatic rocks known to host several porphyry copper prospects in southern Colombia and Ecuador. Copper and molybdenum mineralization is hosted by a potassic- and phyllic-altered dacite porphyry stock emplaced into cogenetic volcanic rocks. Mineralization consists of vein and stockwork chalcopyrite, molybdenite and local bornite and high grade hydrothermal breccias. Mocoa is a molybdenum-rich copper porphyry with molybdenum grades averaging around 0.06%. Historical drilling has shown the Mocoa orebody to be cylindrical in shape, covering 500 by 600 m in area and extending to a depth of at least 700 m and open to the northeast.

Table 2 - Mocoa Property - Selected Historic Drill Hole Results Holes M1-31

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 From To Length
Hole # (m) (m) (m) Cu (%) Mo (%)
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M1 105.70 555.20 449.50 0.41 0.06
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including 141.10 411.40 270.30 0.62 0.09
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including 214.50 309.30 94.80 1.23 0.22
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M3 318.50 794.50 476.00 0.16 0.07
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M5 149.30 751.24 601.94 0.29 0.04
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M7 (2) 89.90 396.30 306.40 0.51 0.04
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including 291.00 396.30 105.30 0.87 0.07
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M9 144.70 888.40 743.70 0.39 0.05
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including 144.70 621.80 477.10 0.56 0.06
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including 144.70 362.70 218.00 0.95 0.11
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M11 160.0 606.21 446.21 0.34 0.04
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including 445.0 472.40 27.40 1.38 0.14
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M17 219.40 853.50 634.10 0.49 0.06
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M23 140.20 855.40 715.20 0.34 0.05
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including 384.00 544.00 160.00 0.53 0.10
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M25 135.60 914.90 779.30 0.44 0.05
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including 330.70 460.20 129.50 0.56 0.056
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M26 (3) 73.10 784.60 711.50 0.12 0.015
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including 96.00 402.30 306.30 0.22 0.029
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M31 150.80 819.90 669.10 0.37 0.06
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including 493.70 774.20 280.50 0.49 0.085
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(2) Twinned by hole 34 over similar geological intervals
(3) Twinned by hole 32 over similar geological intervals

The historical resource stated herein is based on the Pre-Feasibility Report completed in Colombia in 1984 by Ingeominas (the state agency responsible for geology and mining activities, and for mineral tenure administration in Colombia) and the United Nations. This resource was prepared prior to the implementation of National Instrument 43-101 and is not compliant with current accepted resource and reserve classifications and should not be relied upon. The Company advises that it has not done the work to verify the historical resource estimate and is not treating the historical resource as a current resource.

The Company believes there is potential to verify and increase the historical copper-molybdenum resource at Mocoa and a resource will be calculated in early 2009.

The drilling program at the Mocoa property is reviewed and the results approved by Tom Garagan, B2Gold's Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. The Mocoa drill program utilizes an extensive QA/QC (quality assurance and quality control) protocol for assaying and core sample handling that consists of the systematic insertion of blanks, standards and duplicates as well as using a secondary laboratory for regular check assaying. Core samples are cut with a diamond saw with one-half of the core placed in sealed bags and shipped directly the lab. Holes 32 to 35 were sent to ALS Chemex Labs in Bogota, Colombia for sample preparation with the pulps subsequently sent to ALS Chemex Labs in Lima, Peru for gold fire assay and ICP analyses. Holes 36 to 40 were sent to ACME Labs in Bogota for sample preparation and on to ACME Labs in Santiago Chile for gold fire assay and ICP analysis.

ON BEHALF OF B2GOLD CORP.

Clive T. Johnson, President and Chief Executive Officer

The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

Some of the statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements, such as estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

The Toronto Stock Exchange neither approves nor disapproves the information contained in this News Release.