New Gold meets updated guidance despite 2021 challenges

13th January 2022 By: Mariaan Webb - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Canada-focused intermediate mining company New Gold has met its updated full-year guidance, following a strong fourth quarter in which it produced 111 574 gold-equivalent ounces (GEOs).

For the year, the owner of the Rainy River and New Afton mines produced 418 933 GEOs, comprising 286 921 oz of gold and 61.7-million pounds of copper.

New Gold’s production was in line with its updated guidance of 405 000 to 450 000 GEOs. The miner’s original guidance for the year was to produce 440 000 to 490 000 GEOs, but had to be cut because of lower-than-expected grades at Rainy River, in Ontario.

“2021 was not without its challenges for New Gold, but we continued to execute on our plans, with the fourth quarter representing our strongest quarter of the year, allowing us to meet our updated consolidated gold-equivalent production guidance,” said president and CEO Renaud Adams.

He stated that Rainy River’s fourth-quarter production was up 16%, compared with the third quarter, representing the mine’s strongest quarter over the last two years, despite a three-day mill shutdown in December.

The Rainy River mine produced 70 500 GEOs for the quarter. For the year, production was 242 961 GEOs which was at the low end of the updated guidance.

New Afton, in British Columbia, produced 41 074 GEOs for the quarter and 175 972 GEOs in the full year.