New Gold stands by 2009 gold guidance
New Gold says 3Q09 gold sales increase 16% over last year as cash costs dropped 17%
Author: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: Tuesday , 20 Oct 2009
RENO, NV -
mineweb.com
Vancouver's New Gold said Monday it stands by its 2009 gold production guidance of 270,000 to 300,000 gold ounces and total cash cost of $470 to $490/oz, net of by-product sales, remains unchanged.
For the third quarter of this year gold sales increased by 16% from 67,156 ounces to 77,645 ounces, while total cash costs dropped 17% from $565/oz to $470/oz.
Copper production was reported at 3.6 million pounds during the third quarter, up from 2.4 million pounds during the same period a year ago. Third-quarter 2009 silver production was reported at 342,633 ounces, up from 282,055 ounces a year ago.
New Gold reported total gold production for the first nine months of this year of 190,101 gold ounces, up from 154,153 ounces for the first nine months of 2008. Cash costs declined from $490/oz during the first nine months of 2008 to $332/oz during the first nine months of this year. The decrease in cash costs was attributed to higher copper revenues, partially offset by an unfavorable movement in the Australia dollar forex rate.
Year-to-date copper production this year was 11.7 million pounds, twice the 5.8 million ounces reported during the first nine months of last year.
Silver production for the first nine months of this year was reported to be 1,184,110 ounces, a nearly five-fold increase over the 282,055 produced during the same period of 2008.
In a news release, New Gold said Peak Mines and Cerra San Pedro gold production was in line with expectations while silver production at Cerro San Pedro was higher than anticipated.
Gold production at Cerro San Pedro increased slightly during the third quarter from 24,387 ounces to 24,928 ounces. Silver production increased 21% from 282,055 in the third quarter of last year to 342,633 ounces during the same period of this year.
Mesquite's gold production dropped in the third quarter of this year from 42,357 ounces in the third-quarter 2008 to 29,012 ounces, due to lower than expected grand in the Rainbow 3 pit in the first two months of the quarter. Gold production at Mesquite is anticipated to be slightly higher in the fourth quarter since mining has since transitioned into the Rainbow 2 pit.
Meanwhile the New Afton project is expected to begin production in the second half of 2012. New Afton will be an underground mine and concentrator, which is expected to yield 85,000 ounces of gold and 75 million pounds of copper over a 12-year mine life. |
