(Kitco News) - New Gold (TSX, NYSE: NGD) informed today that following the heavy rainfall and flooding during the second quarter, a significant progress was made on dewatering the open pit at its Rainy River mine during the summer months, and as a result mining at the bottom of the pit is back on track.
Open pit tonnes mined in July and August averaged approximately 21,000 ore tonnes mined per day, a 70% increase compared to the 12,295 tonnes mined per day during the second quarter.
In July and August, tonnes milled averaged approximately 24,100 tonnes per calendar day, with efforts focused on improving the reliability of the mill while managing the harder ore material from the North Lobe.
Importantly, the company said that gold equivalent production at Rainy River during July and August totaled approximately 41,000 ounces, and that the operation remains on track to meet its updated annual gold equivalent guidance of 230,000 to 250,000 ounces.
In addition, the company announced that underground production has commenced from the Intrepid zone with the first stope blasted on September 13th, which is a significant milestone for the mine, adding that production from the Intrepid zone will continue to ramp-up over the coming months
New Gold is a Canadian-focused intermediate mining company with a portfolio of two core producing assets in Canada, the Rainy River gold mine and the New Afton copper-gold mine.
