1 Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves as of December 31, 2020 2 Measured and Indicated Resources are exclusive of Mineral Reserves (Excludes Inferred Resources) as of December 31, 2020
See Mineral Reserves and Resources Summary as of December 31, 2020 for additional details including a breakdown by category.
The mine is designed to process 11,000 tpd (4 Mtpa) of ore at full capacity, recovering copper, gold, and silver. The mill processes a blend of primary, transition and supergene ores using conventional crushing, grinding, and concentration processes. Mineral separation is by gravity concentration and differential flotation. A regrinding stage is included in the flotation circuit. Life-of-mine recoveries are expected to total 88 per cent copper, 87 per cent gold and 75 per cent silver.
New Afton began production in June 2012 with commercial production following in July 2012. The underground operation is expected to produce, on average, 85,000 ounces of gold and 75 million pounds of copper per year over its mine life.
The mine occupies the site of the historic Afton Mine and includes an open pit, underground workings, historic support facilities, a new concentrator and recently constructed tailings facility. The New Afton deposit extends to the southwest from immediately beneath the Afton Mine open pit.
New Gold’s holdings in the area comprise the Afton Group and the Ajax Group. The New Afton deposit lies within the Afton Group. The Afton Group consists of 61 mineral claims included in a mining lease issued by the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources on November 29, 2006 (the “Afton Mining Lease”). The total area of the Afton Mining Lease and all other claims is 12,450.4 hectares.
The New Afton deposit comprises part of a larger copper-gold porphyry district situated within the prolific Quesnel Trough island-arc terrane, host to many of British Columbia’s major copper and gold districts. Pre-mineral country rocks consist of intermediate to mafic volcanic country rocks belonging to the Triassic Nicola Formation. Regional scale fault zones act as the principal controls to the emplacement of the batholithic rocks and related porphyry-style mineralization in the area. The bulk of the New Afton deposit occurs as a tabular, nearly vertical, southwest plunging body measuring at least 1.4 kilometres along strike by approximately 100 metres wide, with a down-plunge extent of over 1.5 kilometres. The deposit remains open to the west and at depth.
Mineralization is characterized by copper sulphide veinlets and disseminations localized at brecciated margins between altered porphyry intrusives and Nicola volcanic country rocks. Copper occurs primarily as chalcopyrite and lesser bornite, with secondary chalcocite and native copper occurring in the upper nearer-surface parts of the deposit. Gold occurs as sub-micron grains associated with copper sulphides.
Since the commencement of commercial production in 1977, the New Afton mine has produced more than 800,000 ounces of gold and 850 million pounds of copper from both open pit and underground operations.
Since the start of the current underground block cave operation in July 2012, exploration at New Afton focused on extending the mineral resource below the current B-Zone block cave reserve. This undertaking has resulted in the addition of the C-Zone and SLC-Zone resources as well as the definition of new mineralized areas directly below the SLC-Zone and parallel to the east of the C-Zone called Upper and Lower East Extension. The C-Zone resource remains open to further growth down plunge, where a new area has been defined as D-Zone. The Company plans to start an underground drilling program from the base of the planned C-Zone Block Cave in 2022 that will focus on exploring for the potential continuity of the D-Zone and East Extension down plunge mineralization.
New Gold continues exploration on the broader Company’s landholdings for discovery of additional mineralization to potentially extend the life of the mine.
New Gold is committed to responsible mining in all mining, processing and environmental work across our operations and facilities from exploration, to mining, to rehabilitation and closure. As an organization, we strive to reach the highest standards in employee health and safety, environmental protection and community development and engagement. We believe these are key drivers to achieving a productive and profitable business.
Our policies and practices are guided by principles found in the United Nations Global Compact of which we are signatories, and our operational standards are based on the Mining Association of Canada’s Towards Sustainable Mining Protocols.
New Gold is committed to working closely with communities to make a positive contribution to the community and regions in which we live and work. We recognize that our growth and success depend on the long-term economic, social and environmental sustainability of each of the communities in which we operate.
New Afton’s Community Sponsorship Program reflects our corporate belief that communities should benefit from our operations in both the short and long-term. To that end, we invest in sustainable community development, going beyond traditional philanthropic donations, to support initiatives and projects that have a meaningful and long-lasting positive impact on the community and region in which we operate. To learn more about the program and how your community group might qualify, please click here.
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