NEW GOLD REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2025 RESULTS
NEW GOLD REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2025 RESULTS |
[29-April-2025] |
Solid Quarterly Performance Leads to Free Cash Flow Generation, Critical Path Items Achieved to Allow for Ramp-up in Production and Exploration Activities Going Forward (All amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated) TORONTO, April 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - New Gold Inc. ("New Gold" or the "Company") (TSX: NGD) (NYSE American: NGD) today reported financial and operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2025. "The first four months of the year have been exceptionally positive for New Gold in achieving our strategic objectives," stated Patrick Godin, President and CEO. "We increased our future free cash flow by consolidating our interest in New Afton to 100%. We successfully refinanced and extended our senior notes and extended our credit facility. During the quarter, we also delivered two new Technical Reports outlining strong production profiles with lower costs. Collectively, these milestones are expected to create meaningful value for our shareholders and provide increased financial flexibility and optionality for New Gold moving forward." "Operationally, we delivered our first quarter as planned, advancing several critical path objectives to set ourselves up to achieve our annual guidance. At New Afton, B3 grades were higher than expected as the cave nears exhaustion, which is now expected by the end of the second quarter of 2025. At Rainy River, our efforts to sequence waste stripping in the early months of the year have allowed us to remain on-track for a step-up in production starting in the second quarter, and to deliver an improved second half of the year. Additionally, underground development continues to advance, and I'm pleased to report the successful pit portal breakthrough occurred in early April, an important catalyst that enables the underground ramp-up to advance throughout the year," stated Mr. Godin. "On the exploration front, the New Afton K-Zone exploration drift is now partially available for drilling, and our exploration efforts targeting K-Zone are expected to ramp-up aggressively. At Rainy River, exploration drilling focused on testing growth opportunities along the NW Trend. I look forward to providing updates on these efforts in the coming quarters," added Mr. Godin. First Quarter Sees Strong Performance from New Afton, Rainy River On-Track for Ramp-up in Production Through Remainder of the Year
Fourth Consecutive Quarter of Free Cash Flow Generation, Strategic Corporate Activities Supporting the Transformation of New Gold's Growth
New Afton K-Zone First Exploration Drill Bay Complete, Both Operations Advance Technical Studies for Growth Projects
Consolidated Financial Highlights
Consolidated Operational Highlights
New Afton Mine Operational Highlights
Operating Key Performance Indicators
Rainy River Mine Operational Highlights
Operating Key Performance Indicators
First Quarter 2025 Conference Call and Webcast The Company will release its first quarter 2025 financial results after market close on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. A conference call and webcast will be hosted on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 at 8:30 am Eastern Time.
About New Gold New Gold is a Canadian-focused intermediate mining Company with a portfolio of two core producing assets in Canada, the New Afton copper-gold mine and the Rainy River gold mine. New Gold's vision is to be the most valued intermediate gold and copper producer through profitable and responsible mining for our shareholders and stakeholders. For further information on the Company, visit www.newgold.com. Endnotes
Non-GAAP Financial Performance Measures Cash Costs per Gold Ounce Sold "Cash costs per gold ounce sold" is a common non-GAAP financial performance measure used in the gold mining industry but does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS Accounting Standards and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. New Gold reports cash costs on a sales basis and not on a production basis. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards, this measure, along with sales, is a key indicator of the Company's ability to generate operating earnings and cash flow from its mining operations. This measure allows investors to better evaluate corporate performance and the Company's ability to generate liquidity through operating cash flow to fund future capital exploration and working capital needs. This measure is intended to provide additional information only and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards. This measure is not necessarily indicative of cash generated from operations under IFRS Accounting Standards or operating costs presented under IFRS Accounting Standards. Cash costs figures are calculated in accordance with a standard developed by The Gold Institute, a worldwide association of suppliers of gold and gold products that ceased operations in 2002. Adoption of the standard is voluntary and the cost measures presented may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies. Cash costs include mine site operating costs such as mining, processing and administration costs, royalties, and production taxes, but are exclusive of amortization, reclamation, capital and exploration costs and net of by-product revenue. Cash costs are then divided by gold ounces sold to arrive at the cash costs per gold ounce sold. The Company produces copper and silver as by-products of its gold production. The calculation of cash costs per gold ounce for Rainy River is net of by-product silver sales revenue, and the calculation of cash costs per gold ounce sold for New Afton is net of by-product copper and silver sales revenue. New Gold notes that in connection with New Afton, the by-product revenue is sufficiently large to result in a negative cash costs on a single mine basis. Notwithstanding this by-product contribution, as a Company focused on gold production, New Gold aims to assess the economic results of its operations in relation to gold, which is the primary driver of New Gold's business. New Gold believes this metric is of interest to its investors, who invest in the Company primarily as a gold mining Company. To determine the relevant costs associated with gold only, New Gold believes it is appropriate to reflect all operating costs, as well as any revenue related to metals other than gold that are extracted in its operations. To provide additional information to investors, New Gold has also calculated New Afton's cash costs on a co-product basis, which removes the impact of copper sales that are produced as a by-product of gold production and apportions the cash costs to each metal produced by 30% gold, 70% copper, and subsequently divides the amount by the total gold ounces, or pounds of copper sold, as the case may be, to arrive at per ounce or per pound figures. Unless indicated otherwise, all cash costs information in this MD&A is net of by-product sales. Sustaining Capital and Sustaining Leases "Sustaining capital" and "sustaining lease" are non-GAAP financial performance measures that do not have any standardized meaning under IFRS Accounting Standards and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. New Gold defines "sustaining capital" as net capital expenditures that are intended to maintain operation of its gold producing assets. Similarly, a "sustaining lease" is a lease payment that is sustaining in nature. To determine "sustaining capital" expenditures, New Gold uses cash flow related to mining interests from its consolidated statement of cash flows and deducts any expenditures that are capital expenditures to develop new operations or capital expenditures related to major projects at existing operations where these projects will significantly increase production. Management uses "sustaining capital" and "sustaining lease" to understand the aggregate net result of the drivers of all-in sustaining costs other than cash costs. These measures are intended to provide additional information only and should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards. Growth Capital "Growth capital" is a non-GAAP financial performance measure that does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS Accounting Standards and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. New Gold considers non-sustaining capital costs to be "growth capital", which are capital expenditures to develop new operations or capital expenditures related to major projects at existing operations where these projects will significantly increase production. To determine "growth capital" expenditures, New Gold uses cash flow related to mining interests from its consolidated statement of cash flows and deducts any expenditures that are capital expenditures that are intended to maintain operation of its gold producing assets. Management uses "growth capital" to understand the cost to develop new operations or related to major projects at existing operations where these projects will significantly increase production. This measure is intended to provide additional information only and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards. All-In Sustaining Costs (AISC) per Gold Ounce Sold "All-in sustaining costs per gold ounce sold" or ("AISC") is a non-GAAP financial performance measure that does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS Accounting Standards and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. New Gold calculates "all-in sustaining costs per gold ounce sold" based on guidance announced by the World Gold Council ("WGC") in September 2013. The WGC is a non-profit association of the world's leading gold mining companies established in 1987 to promote the use of gold to industry, consumers and investors. The WGC is not a regulatory body and does not have the authority to develop accounting standards or disclosure requirements. The WGC has worked with its member companies to develop a measure that expands on IFRS Accounting Standards measures to provide visibility into the economics of a gold mining company. Current IFRS Accounting Standards measures used in the gold industry, such as operating expenses, do not capture all of the expenditures incurred to discover, develop and sustain gold production. New Gold believes that "all-in sustaining costs per gold ounce sold" provides further transparency into costs associated with producing gold and will assist analysts, investors, and other stakeholders of the Company in assessing its operating performance, its ability to generate free cash flow from current operations and its overall value. In addition, the Human Resources and Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors uses "all-in sustaining costs", together with other measures, in its Company scorecard to set incentive compensation goals and assess performance. "All-in sustaining costs per gold ounce sold" is intended to provide additional information only and does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS Accounting Standards and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other mining companies. It should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards. The measure is not necessarily indicative of cash flow from operations under IFRS Accounting Standards or operating costs presented under IFRS Accounting Standards. New Gold defines all-in sustaining costs per gold ounce sold as the sum of cash costs, net capital expenditures that are sustaining in nature, corporate general and administrative costs, sustaining leases, capitalized and expensed exploration costs that are sustaining in nature, and environmental reclamation costs, all divided by the total gold ounces sold to arrive at a per ounce figure. To determine sustaining capital expenditures, New Gold uses cash flow related to mining interests from its unaudited condensed interim consolidated statement of cash flows and deducts any expenditures that are non-sustaining (growth). Capital expenditures to develop new operations or capital expenditures related to major projects at existing operations where these projects will significantly benefit the operation are classified as growth and are excluded. The definition of sustaining versus non-sustaining is similarly applied to capitalized and expensed exploration costs. Exploration costs to develop new operations or that relate to major projects at existing operations where these projects are expected to significantly benefit the operation are classified as non-sustaining and are excluded. Costs excluded from all-in sustaining costs per gold ounce sold are non-sustaining capital expenditures, non-sustaining lease payments and exploration costs, financing costs, tax expense, and transaction costs associated with mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, and any items that are deducted for the purposes of adjusted earnings. To provide additional information to investors, the Company has also calculated all-in sustaining costs per gold ounce sold on a co-product basis for New Afton, which removes the impact of other metal sales that are produced as a by-product of gold production and apportions the all-in sustaining costs to each metal produced on a percentage of revenue basis, and subsequently divides the amount by the total gold ounces, or pounds of copper sold, as the case may be, to arrive at per ounce or per pound figures. By including cash costs as a component of all-in sustaining costs, the measure deducts by-product revenue from gross cash costs. The following tables reconcile the above non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable IFRS measure on an aggregate basis. Cash Costs and All-in Sustaining Costs per Gold Ounce Reconciliation Tables
Sustaining Capital Expenditures Reconciliation Table
Adjusted Net Earnings/(Loss) and Adjusted Net Earnings per Share "Adjusted net earnings" and "adjusted net earnings per share" are non-GAAP financial performance measures that do not have any standardized meaning under IFRS Accounting Standards and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Net earnings have been adjusted, including the associated tax impact, for loss on repayment of long-term debt, corporate restructuring and the group of costs in "Other gains and losses" as per Note 3 of the Company's unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements. Key entries in this grouping are: the fair value changes for the Rainy River gold stream obligation, fair value changes for copper price option contracts, foreign exchange gains/loss, fair value changes in investments. The income tax adjustments reflect the tax impact of the above adjustments and is referred to as "adjusted tax expense". The Company uses "adjusted net earnings" for its own internal purposes. Management's internal budgets and forecasts and public guidance do not reflect the items which have been excluded from the determination of "adjusted net earnings". Consequently, the presentation of "adjusted net earnings" enables investors to better understand the underlying operating performance of the Company's core mining business through the eyes of management. Management periodically evaluates the components of "adjusted net earnings" based on an internal assessment of performance measures that are useful for evaluating the operating performance of New Gold's business and a review of the non-GAAP financial performance measures used by mining industry analysts and other mining companies. "Adjusted net earnings" and "adjusted net earnings per share" are intended to provide additional information only and should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards. These measures are not necessarily indicative of operating profit or cash flows from operations as determined under IFRS Accounting Standards. The following table reconciles these non-GAAP financial performance measures to the most directly comparable IFRS Accounting Standards measure.
Cash Generated from Operations, before Changes in Non-Cash Operating Working Capital "Cash generated from operations, before changes in non-cash operating working capital" is a non-GAAP financial performance measure that does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS Accounting Standards and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Other companies may calculate this measure differently and this measure is unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. "Cash generated from operations, before changes in non-cash operating working capital" excludes changes in non-cash operating working capital. New Gold believes this non-GAAP financial measure provides further transparency and assists analysts, investors and other stakeholders of the Company in assessing the Company's ability to generate cash from its operations before temporary working capital changes. Cash generated from operations, before non-cash changes in working capital is intended to provide additional information only and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards. This measure is not necessarily indicative of operating profit or cash flows from operations as determined under IFRS Accounting Standards. The following table reconciles this non-GAAP financial performance measure to the most directly comparable IFRS Accounting Standards measure.
Free Cash Flow "Free cash flow" is a non-GAAP financial performance measure that does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS Accounting Standards and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. New Gold defines "free cash flow" as cash generated from operations and proceeds of sale of other assets less capital expenditures on mining interests, lease payments, settlement of non-current derivative financial liabilities which include the Rainy River gold stream obligation and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan free cash flow interest. New Gold believes this non-GAAP financial performance measure provides further transparency and assists analysts, investors and other stakeholders of the Company in assessing the Company's ability to generate cash flow from current operations. "Free cash flow" is intended to provide additional information only and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards. This measure is not necessarily indicative of operating profit or cash flows from operations as determined under IFRS Accounting Standards. The following tables reconcile this non-GAAP financial performance measure to the most directly comparable IFRS Accounting Standards measure on an aggregate and mine-by-mine basis.
Average Realized Price "Average realized price per ounce of gold sold" is a non-GAAP financial performance measure that does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS Accounting Standards and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Other companies may calculate this measure differently and this measure is unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Management uses this measure to better understand the price realized in each reporting period for gold sales. "Average realized price per ounce of gold sold" is intended to provide additional information only and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards. The following tables reconcile this non-GAAP financial performance measure to the most directly comparable IFRS Accounting Standards measure on an aggregate and mine-by-mine basis.
For additional information with respect to the non-GAAP measures used by the Company, refer to the detailed "Non-GAAP Financial Performance Measure" section disclosure in the MD&A for the three months ended March 31, 2025 filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. 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 are "forward-looking". All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, which address events, results, outcomes 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", "targeted", "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 of such terms. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements with respect to: the Company's expectations and guidance with respect to production, costs, capital investment and expenses on a mine-by-mine and consolidated basis, associated timing and accomplishing the factors contributing to those expectations; successfully completing the Company's growth projects and an increase in production in the second half of the year as a result thereof; expectation that the Company will achieve annual guidance; successfully increasing free cash flow driven by increased production and improved costs throughout 2025; expectation that New Afton's C-Zone will process approximately 16,000 tonnes per day beginning in 2026; successfully extending New Afton mine life beyond 2031; successfully operating the Rainy River processing plant at full capacity beyond 2029; the Company's ability to successfully complete the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan transaction and the timing thereof, including receipt of all required regulatory approvals; the proposed benefits of the transaction to the Company's business, strategic objectives, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and to its shareholders being attained; and successfully fulfilling the gold prepayment amount and timing of such financing. All forward-looking statements in this news release are based on the opinions and estimates of management that, while considered reasonable as at the date of this news release in light of management's experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, are inherently subject to important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond New Gold's ability to control or predict. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements are discussed in this news release, New Gold's latest annual management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A"), its most recent annual information form and technical reports on the Rainy River Mine and New Afton Mine filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. In addition to, and subject to, such assumptions discussed in more detail elsewhere, the forward-looking statements in this news release are also subject to there being no significant disruptions affecting New Gold's operations, including material disruptions to the Company's supply chain, workforce or otherwise. 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, the "Risk Factors" included in New Gold's most recent annual information form, MD&A and other disclosure documents filed on and available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. 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 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. Technical Information All other scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Travis Murphy, Vice President, Operations of New Gold. Mr. Murphy is a Professional Geoscientist, a member of Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia. Mr. Murphy is a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of NI 43-101.
SOURCE New Gold Inc. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Company Codes: AMEX:NGD, Toronto:NGD |