B2Gold Boosts Room Utilization and Streamlines Operations at Fekola Mine Camps

B2Gold partners with Camps & Crew to streamline management of room reservations, maximize room utilization, and ensure seamless operations across five mining camps at Fekola Mine in southwestern Mali.

Meet B2Gold, a veteran in gold production across multiple geographies

Since its establishment in 2007, B2Gold has steadily gained prominence in the global gold production sector. The Vancouver-based company has an impressive geographic spread, with operations spanning across Africa, the Americas, and Asia. The company plays a significant role in Mali's economy in particular, producing a substantial portion of the country's overall gold output. Their prominence is reflected in the markets they serve, as they consistently deliver high-quality gold while setting new standards in operational efficiency and sustainable mining practices. This commitment to excellence has positioned B2Gold as a leader in the industry, demonstrating a robust growth trajectory and a reputation for exceeding expectations in every market they operate.

B2Gold's flagship operation, Fekola Mine, outperforms targets and achieves milestone production

The Fekola Gold Mine in Mali, B2Gold's largest mine, stands as a testament to their operational efficiency and ambition. Acquired in 2014, B2Gold has transformed the Fekola project into their flagship gold mine. Through local employment, the construction of the Fekola mill was completed three months ahead of schedule in 2017. The mine consistently outperforms production targets, doing so ahead of schedule and at a reduced cost. In its fourth year of production, the mine celebrated a significant milestone–the production of two million ounces of gold in 2021.

B2Gold operates nearly 1500 rooms across five camps for workforce in southwestern Mali

Fekola’s camps, spread across the project site, act as a critical homebase for the project’s diverse workforce. The camps primarily house local workers, but do feature a small international presence as well.

Responsibilities for those managing accommodations at Fekola include:

• Maximizing room occupancy across five camps
• Fielding regular modifications and cancellations to room reservations to accommodate the evolving needs of project staffing at the mine
• Monitoring current occupancy and anticipating future room availability for work crews
• Managing daily on-site operations for both the front- and back-of-house, including daily responsibilities such as: guest check-in and check-out, housekeeping and maintenance
• Simplifying ongoing training for new and existing camp staff

Inefficient reservation management and siloed systems led to under-utilized rooms, extended check-in times, and hindered staff efficiency

As the Fekola mine ramped up production, the manual methods of tracking room reservations and coordinating daily camp activities failed to meet the needs of those supporting camp operations, both on-and off-site.
Before the adoption of Camps and Crew’s SmartLodge, B2Gold staff encountered the following challenges at the Fekola mining camp:

• The previous system's inability to accurately track reservation updates and cancellations led to constant under- or over-booking of rooms across the five camps, causing room underutilization or overcrowding.
• A lack of real-time room reservation data prevented camp staff from effectively predicting future accommodation needs for the project.
• The system's failure to link room reservations to guest profiles for workers and subcontractors staying at camp made it nearly impossible to identify duplicate room bookings.
• Check-in and check-out times were often lengthy, especially during busier periods at the project, due to the system's inability to quickly process large groups arriving or departing.
• The use of siloed systems by housekeeping and the front desk hindered communication between the teams, often causing rooms not to be ready for arriving workers.
• Inadequate training provided by the previous system provider prevented camp staff from fully leveraging the system's capabilities, which adversely affected their efficiency and overall resident satisfaction at the camp.

B2Gold Leverages SmartLodge to Boost Room Utilization and Streamline Operations at Fekola Camps

In a move to streamline room management and unlock greater operational efficiencies at the Fekola camps, B2Gold turned to Camps and Crew. The implementation of SmartLodge, a camp management system designed for remote mining camps, has proved to be a game-changer for the remote mining project.
B2Gold has realized the following outcomes by leveraging the system:

• Room utilization has reached up to 95%, typically during busier periods at the project.
• A notable reduction in no-shows and go-shows, thanks to tighter management of room reservations in SmartLodge.
• Management at the company have gained access to real-time reservation data, providing an additional layer of oversight and facilitating room forecasting exercises.
• Profile data from workers flows directly from B2Gold’s HRIS system into SmartLodge, ensuring all room reservations are tied to workers’ guest profiles hosted in SmartLodge.
• Communication between the front desk, housekeeping and maintenance teams has increased thanks to all teams working within a single platform, which has ensured rooms are serviced and made available to incoming workers in a timely manner.
• Training on the system has become much simpler and effective as a result of SmartLodge's flexible user interface, which can be adapted to the needs of users in different departments.