New Afton now one of just two mines run by New Gold

“Both of the operations… required substantial capital inputs in order to unlock their continued potential,” Davidson says. “Really the need for that additional capital and the current situation of New Gold where we have to really be focused with where we’re putting our capital, the decision was made to find buyers for those operations that could help them to unlock their potential while also allowing us to focus our capital on (our other projects).”

This led to the company announcing this week the elimination of five vice-president positions within the company. Davidson says this won’t affect workers in the mines.

“When we were a company with four or five mines operating and the projects, it took a lot more effort to run the company whereas now we have… the two operating assets plus the Blackwater Project, and so really that restructuring to reflect the smaller asset base and a really more lean management structure made a lot of sense,” he says.

The only core operations being operated by New Gold are the New Afton Mine outside of Kamloops, the Rainy River Mine in Ontario, and the proposed Blackwater project south of Vanderhoof.

“We think that having a strong core set of assets like Rainy River and New Afton, and the Blackwater Project, all within Canada really allow us to find synergies between the operations,” Davidson says.

The Blackwater Project is a proposed open-pit gold mine that’s currently engaged in the federal and provincial environmental assessment process.

Davidson says the divestment of the two projects doesn’t mean an unhealthy future for New Gold, and says this will help make sure resources are poured in to the Canadian projects.

by Ashley Legassic

New Afton now one of just two mines run by New Gold

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