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New Gold began processing ore at Rainy River midway through September and is scheduled to start commercial production at the mine in November.
Intermediate gold miner New Gold (TSX:NGD,NYSEMKT:NGD) ended the week by announcing the first gold pour at its Rainy River mine.
According to a Friday (October 6) press release, the first pour at Ontario-based Rainy River yielded about 500 ounces of gold and 600 ounces of silver.
“Our team is proud to have delivered on all of the key project milestones since the beginning of 2017, however, the first gold pour is a particularly special one for New Gold and its stakeholders,” Hannes Portmann, president and CEO of New Gold said in a statement.
He added, “[t]his achievement is reflective of a true team effort as it would not have been possible without the commitment and resilience of our workforce as well as the strong support of our local communities and Indigenous partners — thank you.”
Rainy River began processing ore on September 14, and New Gold says its commissioning plans for the mine remain on schedule. Since processing began, a total of 290,000 tonnes of ore have been processed, which comes out to an average processing rate of close to 14,000 tonnes per day, or 67 percent of the mine’s nameplate capacity of 21,000 tonnes per day.
Commercial production is expected to begin in November, with mine production pegged at 325,000 ounces of gold annually. New Gold has said it plans to process higher-grade ounces during Rainy River’s first years of operation before moving on to lower-grade ounces as its life draws to a close. The mine has an estimated mine life of 14 years.
Last year, New Gold produced 381,663 ounces of gold and 102 million pounds of copper. In addition to Rainy River, New Gold owns the New Afton mine in Canada, the US-based Mesquite mine, the Peak mines in Australia and the Cerro San Pedro mine, located in Mexico. All of those mines are producing, and the company’s Blackwater projects in Canada are at the development stage.
New Gold’s share price increased modestly on Friday morning, and was trading at C$4.93 on the TSX as of 11:13 a.m. PST. Year-to-date the company’s share price is up 4.46 percent on the exchange.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
