(All figures are in US dollars unless otherwise indicated)
VANCOUVER, June 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - New Gold Inc. ("New
Gold") (TSX:NGD)(NYSE AMEX:NGD) today announces its plan for the
continued exploration of the recently acquired Blackwater Project
in central British Columbia.
Following acquisition of the Blackwater Project on June 1, 2011, New Gold is now planning to
significantly increase the exploration program at the project and
is targeting 40,000 to 50,000 metres of drilling in the second half
of 2011. New Gold is budgeting $20
million for this exploration program.
"We are very excited to embark on this significant drill
program," stated Mark Petersen, Vice
President, Exploration. "The holes drilled since the March 2011 resource estimate have shown good
continuity and we look forward to building upon these successful
results to grow the Blackwater resource."
The previous owner and operator of the project, Richfield
Ventures Corp. ("Richfield") had targeted 30,000 metres of drilling
for the full year 2011. From the beginning of 2011 through New
Gold's acquisition of Richfield on June 1,
2011, approximately 20,000 metres of drilling had been
completed. When combining the drilling completed prior to the
transaction close with New Gold's targeted program for the second
half of 2011, the total drilling on the project for the year should
be over 60,000 metres, more than doubling Richfield's originally
targeted program. Drilling in the second half of 2011 will target
both the 100%-owned southern portion of the project and the
75%-owned northern portion, where Silver Quest Resources Ltd.
("Silver Quest") owns the remaining 25%. Pursuant to the joint
venture agreement with Silver Quest, the portion of the revised
drilling program on the northern portion of the property requires
majority approval by the joint venture management committee, where
New Gold holds 75% of the votes.
New Gold intends to provide periodic updates on the progress
being made at Blackwater and is targeting an updated resource
estimate in early 2012. The Blackwater Project's initial mineral
resource estimate was completed in March
2011 and was based upon results from 77 holes totalling
approximately 25,000 metres of drilling completed in 2009 and
2010.
Blackwater Deposit - Resource Estimates by Property at 0.4 g/t
Gold Cut-off grade
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Indicated Inferred
-------------------------------------------------------
Grade Contained Grade Contained
----------- -----------
Tonnes Gold Silver Gold Tonnes Gold Silver Gold
Property (000's) (g/t) (g/t) (Moz) (000's)(g/t) (g/t) (Moz)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Blackwater 53,460 1.06 5.6 1.83 75,452 0.96 4.0 2.34
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Dave and Jarrit
(100% New Gold) 53,128 1.07 5.6 1.82 29,183 1.04 5.5 0.98
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Davidson (75% New
Gold, 25% Silver
Quest Resources
Ltd.) 331 0.92 5.0 0.01 46,269 0.92 3.1 1.36
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total New Gold 53,377 1.06 5.6 1.83 63,885 0.97 4.2 2.00
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In addition to the enhanced drill program, New Gold intends to
continue to progress all facets of the project. The company is
building upon relationships that had been established with local
communities, First Nations and government and environmental
offices. Environmental baseline plus waste and water management
studies have already commenced and continue to progress as
planned.
"While, from an exploration standpoint, the ultimate potential
of Blackwater remains very much undefined, we are very pleased that
a foundation of relationships and proactive environmental
management has been firmly established," stated Robert Gallagher, President and Chief Executive
Officer. "We intend to continue development of Blackwater while
adhering to only the highest standards of environmental and social
responsibility."
New Gold is targeting the completion of a Preliminary Economic
Assessment for the Blackwater Project by mid-2012.
About New Gold Inc.
New Gold is an intermediate gold mining company. The company has
a portfolio of three producing assets and three significant
development projects. 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 and, in
June 2011, New Gold acquired the
exciting Blackwater project in Canada. For further information on the
company, please visit www.newgold.com.
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 (including that the business of
Richfield will be integrated successfully in the New Gold
organization) that are inherently subject to known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause 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 disclosure documents 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 discussed
herein 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 news 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 news 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.
Technical Information
The scientific and technical information in this news release
has been reviewed by Mark Petersen,
a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and employee of
New Gold.
See March 2, 2011 NI 43-101
Technical Report available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com for detailed
information regarding the Blackwater Project resource estimate. The
Blackwater resource estimate contained in this document is
effective as of March 2, 2011 and was
derived from information prepared by or under the supervision of
Mr. Ronald Simpson, P. Geo,
President of Geosim Services Inc., an independent "Qualified
Person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure
for Mineral Projects NI 43-101.
SOURCE New Gold Inc.