VANCOUVER, March 16 /PRNewswire/ - New Gold Inc. ("New
Gold") (TSX: NGD) (AMEX: NGD) today announces that authorities in
Chile have approved an
Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") for the El Morro project in
northern Chile. New Gold is a 30
percent joint venture partner in the project, with Goldcorp Inc.
("Goldcorp"), the project developer, holding 70 percent.
The granting of the EIA facilitates commencement of construction
activities by Goldcorp, and specific permits will be obtained
during the course of project implementation. Goldcorp will now
conduct condemnation drilling, and subsequent exploration drilling
will concentrate on in-fill drilling and sampling for metallurgical
and geo-technical data. A further update to the feasibility study
is expected in the third quarter of 2011, including revised capital
and operating cost estimates and some refinements to the mine plan
and mining equipment requirements.
"The exploration upside at El Morro remains tremendously
exciting," stated Robert Gallagher,
President and Chief Executive Officer. "The El Morro project in
Chile is a world-class project in
one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world, and has the
potential to have a significant positive impact on our cash flow.
Approval of the EIA is a critical milestone in the advancement of
the project."
El Morro is an advanced stage copper-gold project located in
northern Chile. New Gold's share
of proven and probable reserves is 2.5 million ounces of gold and
1.8 billion pounds of copper with an additional 1.3 million ounces
of gold and 0.6 billion pounds of copper in the inferred resource
category. On February 10, 2011, New
Gold announced an updated mineral reserve and resource estimate as
of year-end 2010, reflecting new mineral reserve and resource
estimates announced by Goldcorp.
For additional detail on Reserves and Resources, including
related assumptions and disclosure, please refer to the Company's
news release issued February 10,
2011.
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About New Gold Inc.
New Gold is an intermediate gold mining company. The Mesquite Mine in the
United States, the Cerro San Pedro Mine in Mexico and Peak Gold Mines in
Australia are expected to produce between 380,000 and 400,000 ounces of
gold in 2011. The fully-funded New Afton project in Canada is scheduled
to add further growth in 2012. In addition, New Gold owns 30% of the
world-class El Morro project located in Chile. For further information on
the company, please visit www.newgold.com.
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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information contained in this news release, including
any information relating to New Gold's future financial or
operating performance may be deemed "forward looking". All
statements in this news release, other than statements of
historical fact, that address events or developments that New Gold
expects to occur, are "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking
statements are statements that are not historical facts and are
generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "does
not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate",
"believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential",
"scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions, or that
events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or
"might" occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the
opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements
are made and are subject to important risk factors and
uncertainties, many of which are beyond New Gold's ability to
control or predict. Forward-looking statements are necessarily
based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause New Gold's actual results, level of activity, performance or
achievements to be materially different from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include,
without limitation: significant capital requirements; fluctuations
in the international currency markets and in the rates of exchange
of the currencies of Canada,
the United States, Australia, Mexico and Chile; price volatility in the spot and
forward markets for commodities; impact of any hedging activities,
including margin limits and margin calls; discrepancies between
actual and estimated production, between actual and estimated
reserves and resources and between actual and estimated
metallurgical recoveries; changes in national and local government
legislation in Canada,
the United States, Australia, Mexico and Chile or any other country in which New Gold
currently or may in the future carry on business; taxation;
controls, regulations and political or economic developments in the
countries in which New Gold does or may carry on business; the
speculative nature of mineral exploration and development,
including the risks of obtaining and maintaining the validity and
enforceability of the necessary licenses and permits and complying
with the permitting requirements of each jurisdiction that New Gold
operates, including, but not limited to, Mexico, where New Gold is involved with
ongoing challenges relating to its environmental impact statement
for the Cerro San Pedro Mine; the lack of certainty with respect to
the Mexican and other foreign legal systems, which may not be
immune from the influence of political pressure, corruption or
other factors that are inconsistent with the rule of law; the
uncertainties inherent to current and future legal challenges the
company is or may become a party to, including the third party
claim related to the El Morro transaction with respect to New
Gold's exercise of its right of first refusal on the El Morro
copper-gold project in Chile and
its partnership with Goldcorp Inc., which transaction and third
party claim were announced by New Gold in January 2010; diminishing quantities or grades of
reserves; competition; loss of key employees; additional funding
requirements; actual results of current exploration or reclamation
activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be
refined; accidents; labour disputes; defective title to mineral
claims or property or contests over claims to mineral properties.
In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the
business of mineral exploration, development and mining, including
environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected
formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and gold bullion losses
(and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain
insurance to cover these risks) as well as "Risk Factors" included
in New Gold's latest annual information form, management's
discussion and analysis of financial condition ("MD&A") and
management information circular filed on and available at
www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of
future performance, and actual results and future events could
materially differ from those anticipated in such statements. All of
the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are
qualified by these cautionary statements. New Gold expressly
disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
events or otherwise, except in accordance with applicable
securities laws.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Readers Concerning Estimates of
Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources
Information concerning the properties and operations of New Gold
has been prepared in accordance with Canadian standards under
applicable Canadian securities laws, and may not be comparable to
similar information for United
States companies. The terms "Mineral Resource", "Measured
Mineral Resource", "Indicated Mineral Resource" and "Inferred
Mineral Resource" used in this press release are Canadian mining
terms as defined in accordance with NI 43-101 under guidelines set
out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum
("CIM") Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves adopted
by the CIM Council on December 11,
2005. While the terms "Mineral Resource", "Measured Mineral
Resource", "Indicated Mineral Resource" and "Inferred Mineral
Resource" are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, they
are not defined terms under standards of the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission. Under United States standards, mineralization may
not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been
made that the mineralization could be economically and legally
produced or extracted at the time the reserve calculation is made.
As such, certain information contained in this press release
concerning descriptions of mineralization and resources under
Canadian standards is not comparable to similar information made
public by United States companies
subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission. An "Inferred Mineral
Resource" has a great amount of uncertainty as to its existence and
as to its economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that
all or any part of an "Inferred Mineral Resource" will ever be
upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of
Inferred Mineral Resources may not form the basis of feasibility or
other economic studies. Readers are cautioned not to assume that
all or any part of Measured or Indicated Resources will ever be
converted into Mineral Reserves. Readers are also cautioned not to
assume that all or any part of an "Inferred Mineral Resource"
exists, or is economically or legally mineable. In addition, the
definitions of "Proven Mineral Reserves" and "Probable Mineral
Reserves" under CIM standards differ in certain respects from the
standards of the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Mark Petersen, Vice President,
Exploration, New Gold Inc., who is a "qualified person" as such
term is defined under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and
approved the contents of this news release.
SOURCE New Gold Inc.