VANCOUVER,
July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - New Gold
Inc. ("New Gold") (TSX and NYSE MKT:NGD) today announces an updated
National Instrument 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate for
its Blackwater Gold Project in central British Columbia. This latest resource update
incorporates an additional four and a half months of drill hole
data added to the project's resource database when compared to the
previous estimate announced in March
2012. With this additional data, the indicated and inferred
mineral resources have increased by 30%, or 1.7 million ounces of
gold, and 7%, or 0.2 million ounces of gold, respectively. The
resource estimate now includes all drilling through May 14, 2012, adding 151 holes totaling 57,064
metres since the March 2012 estimate.
In total, the current Blackwater mineral resource estimate is
supported by analytical data received from 417 holes totaling
147,619 metres. An additional 32 holes supplied geologic
information, but assays had not been received by the cut-off date
for this July resource estimate.
- Indicated mineral resource: 230 million tonnes at an average
grade of 0.96 grams gold per tonne containing 7.1 million ounces of
gold at a 0.40 gold-equivalent gram per tonne cut-off grade
- Inferred mineral resource: 98 million tonnes at an average
grade of 0.77 grams gold per tonne containing 2.5 million ounces of
gold at a 0.40 gold-equivalent gram per tonne cut-off grade
As this latest resource estimate provides New
Gold with additional information regarding the continuously
evolving Blackwater mineral resource, the company plans to use this
July resource estimate, rather than the March 2012 estimate, as the basis for its
Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA"). The PEA is targeted for
completion in September 2012. A table
detailing the updated mineral resource estimate is provided
below.
Blackwater
Project July 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate |
Indicated Mineral
Resource |
Inferred Mineral
Resource |
AuEq
Cut-off
(g/t) |
Tonnes
(000's) |
Au
(g/t) |
Ag
(g/t) |
Au
(Moz) |
Ag
(Moz) |
AuEq
Cut-off
(g/t) |
Tonnes
(000's) |
Au
(g/t) |
Ag
(g/t) |
Au
(Moz) |
Ag
(Moz) |
0.30 |
266,848 |
0.88 |
4.3 |
7.52 |
36.9 |
0.30 |
120,206 |
0.69 |
7.3 |
2.66 |
28.2 |
0.40 |
230,125 |
0.96 |
4.6 |
7.13 |
34.0 |
0.40 |
98,382 |
0.77 |
7.7 |
2.45 |
24.4 |
0.50 |
191,017 |
1.08 |
4.9 |
6.61 |
30.1 |
0.50 |
76,418 |
0.89 |
7.2 |
2.19 |
17.7 |
Note: 0.40 gold-equivalent cut-off highlighted
as most comparable to previously reported 0.40 gold cut-off
grade
See section entitled Quality
Assurance/Quality Control, Mineral Resource Estimation Parameters
and Qualified Persons at the conclusion of this news release
for details of the parameters that form the basis of the above
noted mineral resource estimate.
"We are very pleased with the continued resource
growth rate at Blackwater," stated Mark
Petersen, Vice President Exploration. "To see the indicated
resource grow by 1.7 million ounces in four and a half months is
remarkably gratifying and speaks to the quality of our team at
Blackwater and the continued potential of this deposit. We look
forward to continuing to build on this momentum through the
remainder of 2012 and beyond."
The additional assays received further
demonstrate strong continuity of gold mineralization as the mineral
resource continues to expand, particularly to the north and
northwest. Beyond the positive gold-related results, the recent
assays have also returned some of the highest silver grades found
on the deposit to date. As a result, the inferred silver grades
have increased by 103%, to 7.7 grams per tonne, when compared to
the March 2012 mineral resource
estimate. These results occur within a zone of higher grade silver
mineralization along the outer northwestern portion of the mineral
resource. This zone offers excellent potential for expanding the
silver mineral resources at Blackwater and is an area of focus for
renewed exploration drilling by the company.
New Gold currently has 18 drills actively
exploring at the project. With 13 drills conducting resource
delineation and infill drilling at the primary Blackwater deposit,
New Gold remains well on track to fulfill its 2012 program, where
the company is targeting the completion of approximately 500 holes
totaling over 200,000 metres. The company's exploration efforts on
its broader property position have also been accelerated. Three
drills are testing the mineral potential of proposed infrastructure
sites and two drills are exploring the potential to expand the
Capoose gold-silver deposit located approximately 25 kilometres
from Blackwater. In addition, the Blackwater regional exploration
program has commenced with reconnaissance mapping and geochemical
sampling on the company's 1,000 square kilometre land position.
New Gold is also pleased to report that its
local Vanderhoof office and sample
preparation lab opened in June, further establishing the company's
commitment to the local community. The company looks forward to the
completion of a PEA on the project in September 2012.
New Afton Update
The commissioning of the company's New Afton
mill, which began processing ore from underground and the surface
stockpile on June 28, 2012, continues
to progress well. The daily mill throughput has steadily increased
and over the last five days has averaged over 10,000 tonnes per
day. The first concentrate was trucked from New Afton to the
Vancouver wharves on July 5, 2012. The company continues to expect
that commercial production at New Afton, defined as 30 days of
operation at 60% of the 11,000 tonne per day capacity, or 6,600
tonnes per day, will be achieved in August
2012. New Gold looks forward to providing further updates on
the ramp-up of production at New Afton as part of its second
quarter operational and financial results announcement scheduled
for August 1, 2012.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control, Mineral
Resource Estimation Parameters and Qualified Persons
New Gold maintains a Quality Assurance/Quality
Control ("QA/QC") program at the Blackwater Project using industry
best practices that are consistent with the QA/QC protocols in use
at all of its exploration and development projects. Key elements of
New Gold's QA/QC program include controlled chain of custody of
samples, regular insertion of certified reference standards and
blanks, and duplicate check assays. Drill core is halved and
shipped in sealed bags to ALS Global, Vancouver, British Columbia, where it is
analyzed for gold and silver along with a suite of other elements.
Gold analyses are performed by fire assay/AA finish methods and
silver analyses are performed by Induction Coupled
Plasmaspectrometry ("ICP"). Silver ICP analyses are not known with
the same precision as gold fire assay analyses so the reader is
cautioned regarding the accuracy of silver grades relative to gold
grades reported in the current mineral resource estimate. ALS
Global is an independent ISO accredited and registered analytical
services provider.
The July mineral resource estimate is based on a
geologic block model consisting of two principal structural domains
and constrained by a 0.20 g/t gold grade shell. Gold and silver
grade estimation was carried out by the ordinary kriging and
inverse distance methods using 10 metre downhole drill hole
composites. After comparing the results using a change of support
check, the inverse distance squared method was selected as the best
representation. Gold grades were capped prior to compositing
at a level of 40 g/t. Silver grades were capped at 150 g/t except
for those falling within a 10 g/t Ag grade shell domain. Classified
blocks have been constrained by a Lerch-Grossman optimized mineral
resource pit shell using a gold price of $1,300 per ounce. Block dimensions were 10 by 10
by 10 metres. Block density values were estimated by the inverse
distance squared method based on 19,181 bulk density measurements
of drill core. To account for increasing silver mineralization, the
mineral resource is reported at a nominal base case lower cut-off
of 0.40 g/t gold-equivalent. The resource is also presented at
lower cut-offs of 0.30 g/t gold and 0.50 g/t gold-equivalent to
provide additional information of resource sensitivity to changing
cut-off.
The July 2012
mineral resource estimate was prepared by 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"). The scientific and technical information contained in
this news release was prepared under the supervision of Mr.
Mark Petersen, New Gold Vice
President Exploration for New Gold and "Qualified Person" under NI
43-101 who reviewed and approved the contents of this news
release.
About New Gold Inc.
New Gold is an intermediate gold mining company.
The company has a portfolio of four producing assets and two
significant development projects. New Gold's New Afton project met
its targeted June 2012 production
start and is scheduled to begin commercial production in
August 2012. Together with the
Mesquite Mine in the United
States, the Cerro San Pedro Mine in Mexico and Peak Gold Mines in Australia, the company is forecasting between
405,000 and 445,000 ounces of gold production in 2012. In addition,
New Gold owns 30% of the world-class El Morro project located in
Chile and 100% of 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 press
release, including any information relating to New Gold's future
financial or operating performance may be deemed "forward looking".
All statements in this press 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 use of forward-looking
terminology such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget",
"scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates",
"projects", "potential", "believes" or variations of such words and
phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results
"may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will be
taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation. 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 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 international, 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, Chile where the courts have temporarily
suspended the approval of the environmental permit for the El Morro
project; the lack of certainty with respect to 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,;
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 press 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 in this press release 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.
SOURCE New Gold Inc.