New Gold on track after Q3 to meet 2020 forecasts
New Gold Inc. [NGD-TSX, NYSE American] on Thursday November 5 reaffirmed its revised annual production guidance after reporting a profit of US$16 million or $0.02 per share in the third quarter ended September 30, 2020.
Total production for Q3 was 115,536 ounces of gold equivalent (78,959 oz  gold, 171,825 oz silver and 18.2 million lbs copper) at an all-in-sustaining cost of US$1,313/gold equivalent ounce.
Revenue for Q3 was US$174 million, an increase from the year ago quarter that resulted from an increase in gold and copper prices, partially offset by lower gold and copper sales volume, the company said in a press release.
On Thursday, New Gold shares edged up 2.5% or $0.065 to $2.66 on volume of 2.9 million. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $2.98 and 55 cents.
Back in late July, 2020, New Gold released revised forecasts saying it expected to produce 415,000-455,000 gold equivalent ounces this year (284,000-304,000 oz gold and 65-75 million lbs copper).
New Gold produced 486,141 gold equivalent ounces in 2019 (322,557 oz gold, 596,452 oz silver, and 79.4 million lb copper). Its key operating assets are the Rainy River Mine,  northwest Ontario and the New Afton Mine west of Kamloops, British Columbia.
Rainy River delivered another strong quarter of operational and technical performance as mine operations ramped up towards the 2021 capacity target of approximately 150,000 tonnes/day. The mill delivered a record of 27,000 tonnes/day, reaching the maximum monthly average throughput allowed under the existing mill permit.
“The Rainy River Mine is now repositioned to deliver strong production growth at lower costs and higher margins, which will drive a strong free cash flow stream over the life of the mine,” said New Gold CEO Renaud Adams.
Adams also said he is pleased with the improved performance of the New Afton Mine. All teams have been mobilized to advance all key projects at New Afton, including B3/C-Zone development, thickened and amended tailings construction, stabilization of the historic tailings facility and detailed design work for the C-Zone tailings storage facility.
At New Afton, Phase one of a drilling program was launched in late October to test the potential of the 12-km Cherry Creek Trend, located within 3 km of the New Afton mill, which could increase the resource inventory of the New Afton Mine and extend the mine life.