New Found Gold achieves commercial production milestone
New Found Gold Corp. [NFGC-TSX, NYSE American] has declared commercial production at its 100%-owned Hammerdown Gold Mine in central Newfoundland.
New Found Gold is an emerging Canadian gold producer with assets in Newfoundland & Labrador, including its flagship Queensway gold project, Hammerdown deposit and Pine Cove mill. The company has been focusing on bringing Hammerdown into commercial production in the first half of 2026, while advancing Queensway towards Phase 1.0 production.
New Found Gold shares advanced on the news, rising 8.0% or 18 cents to $2.43. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $4.89 and $1.88.
Commercial production was defined based on meeting three criteria on a sustained basis over 60 consecutive days. The criteria consists of throughput at the Pine Cove Mill of at least 600 tonnes per day, (85% of the 700 tonne per day nameplate capacity of the mill), gold recovery of at least 80% and feed grade of at least 80% of the mine plan head grade as outlined in the Hammerdown preliminary economic assessment (PEA).
With the three criteria met, the milestone of commercial production was achieved on August 19, 2026, with average throughput of approximately 748 tonnes per day, 87.7% gold recovery and average feed grade of 2.92 grams of gold per tonne over the 60 consecutive days.
“Achieving commercial production at Hammerdown on schedule is a major milestone for New Found Gold and the next step toward becoming Canada’s next mid-tier gold producer,’’ said New Found CEO Keith Boyle.
Hammerdown produced 9,140 ounces of gold in the first eight months of 2026, including 1,989 ounces of gold in August 2026. The average realized price over the first eight months of 2026 was US$4,532 an ounce.
The Hammerdown gold project was added to the company’s asset portfolio following the completion of the Maritime Resources Corp. acquisition in November, 2025. The Hammerdown deposit is located on the north-central portion of the island of Newfoundland & Labrador, approximately 5.0 kilometres southwest to the town of Kings Point and 15 kilometres northwest of Springdale.
Hammerdown represents a complementary set of gold deposits and processing assets that materially enhance the company’s development profile by providing near-term advancement optionality alongside the longer-term growth potential of Queensway.
The Hammerdown project includes the Pine Cove Mill and tailings facility located on the Hammerdown property as well as the Hammerdown, Orion and Stog’er Tight deposits.
The company has said it plans to convert and expand the Pine Cove mill from the current 700 tonne-per day flotation-leach-Merrill Crow circuit to a 1,400 tonne-per-day gravity-carbon-in-leach circuit. By processing mineralized material from both Hammerdown and Queensway Phase 1.0 at the converted and expanded mill, the company said it expects to benefit from the synergies of a single higher-throughput facility and access to the company’s skilled mill operators compared to using a third-party toll mill.
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