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Canada
New Afton Mine

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 Location:
10 km W from Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada

  Address:
4050 West Trans Canada HWY
Kamloops
British Columbia, Canada
V1S 2A3
Phone250 377-2700
EmailEmail
WebsiteWeb
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  • Mining
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  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeUnderground
Commodities
  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Copper
Mining Method
  • Block caving
Production Start2012
Mine Life2030
The New Gold is expecting to continue to advance the C-Zone development at New Afton mine resulting in significant capital expenditures. The development of the C-Zone will continue to be advanced, with first ore expected in the second half of 2023.
Latest NewsNew Gold Achieves Updated 2022 Guidance and Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Results     February 16, 2023


Owners

Source: p. 9,26
CompanyInterestOwnership
New Gold Inc. 100 % Indirect
New Gold currently has 100% interest in the New Afton copper-gold mine British Columbia, Canada.

Ontario Teachers’ has a 46.0% free cash flow interest in the New Afton Mine with a JV Interest Option to convert the interest into a 46.0% joint venture interest in four years, or have itsinterest remain as a free cash flow interest at a reduced rate of 42.5%.

Contractors



Deposit Type

  • Porphyry

Source: Source p.53,63-66

Summary:

The New Afton deposit is a copper-gold, alkalic porphyry system situated within the Iron Mask batholith complex. The Iron Mask complex is part of the Paleozoic age island-arc assemblage known as the Quesnel Terrane. Regional-scale fault zones are believed to be the principal control to intrusion of the batholithic rocks and related copper and gold mineralization in the New Afton area.

Mineralization is characterized by discontinuous copper sulphide veinlets and disseminations (principally chalcopyrite and minor bornite) at brecciated margins between altered porphyry intrusives and volcanic rocks of the Triassic Nicola Formation. The copper sulphides are replaced by tennantite-tetrahedrite locally and along faults that transect the mineralized body. Native copper with accessory chalcocite occurs in minor amounts within highly oxidized near-surface portions of the deposit. Gold and silver generally occur as electrum grains within the chalcopyrite and bornite.

The bulk of the New Afton deposit forms a tabular, nearly vertical, southwest-plunging zone of continuous mineralization measuring 1.4 kilometres long by approximately 100 metres wide, with a down-plunge extent of over 1.5 kilometres. The deposit plunges toward the southwest where it remains open at depth.

Mineralization results from late stage hydrothermal activity driven by remnant heat from the porphyry intrusion. Thermal gradients within these systems give rise to broadly concentric, although often complexly intermingled, zones of alteration and mineralization. The distribution of alteration and mineral facies are largely influenced by dikes, veins, and fracture systems which concentrate and control fluid flow.

The principal host rock for the New Afton deposit comprises crystalline and polymictic fragmental volcanics belonging to the Triassic Nicola Formation and lesser monolithic intrusive breccias. These rocks have been altered and mineralized by a monzonite intrusive consisting of a fault controlled elongated stock and related dike swarm. The monzonite is generally weakly mineralized to unmineralized and is interpreted as the causative intrusive phase that is less susceptible to the introduction of sulphide mineralization. Its geometry is best described as a narrow, elongated stock that remains open at depth and pinches down plunge to the west.

The primary mine site host lithologies are described by New Afton geologists as follows:
Polymictic Fragmental Volcanic Breccia: Comprising poorly sorted, variably coloured, massive to phyric, angular to sub-rounded, lapilli to block sized clasts of porphyritic diorite, andesite, basalt, picrite, and aphyric volcanics within coarse-grained crystal-rich matrix. Clast rock types are commonly porphyritic diorite, andesitic flows, mafic volcanics, picrite and aphyric volcanics within ash to coarse grained crystal dominated matrices.

Monomictic Volcanic Breccia: Contains subangular crystal-rich clasts of diorite or monzonite or Nicola Group volcanic rocks and are commonly located on the margins of intrusive bodies.

Crystalline Volcanic Rocks: Crystal tuffs and andesite flows dominated by very fine and fine to medium grained subhedral to anhedral, broken and or embayed phenocrysts of plagioclase ± pyroxene ± hornblende. Contains less than five percent by volume of coarse ash to lapilli sized lithic fragments within a variably altered fine grained to ash matrix.

Copper-gold-silver mineralization occurs as disseminations and fracture-filling sulphide grains occurring in three roughly tabular east-west striking, steeply dipping bodies. The Main Zone, as its name suggests, is the principal zone of mineralization. Present mining operations are located within the Main Zone. It is flanked to the east and south by two smaller bodies called the HW Zones.

The mineralization at New Afton is grouped into three broad categories: hypogene, secondary hypogene, and supergene. The term describing secondary hypogene mineralization has changed over time from mesogene to secondary hypogene and is now thought of as late hypogene/epithermal assemblage. Secondary hypogene has been retained for consistency in order to minimize confusion. Hypogene was originally ascribed to primary copper sulphide mineralization that had not undergone significant oxidation. Presently, hypogene refers to chalcopyrite and accessory bornite mineralization which forms the core of the deposit and is dominated by biotite alteration. This is noted to typically occur along the northern margins of the monzonite stock in the Main Zone and discontinuous monzonite dykes in the HW Zones. For logging purposes, hypogene mineralization is defined as having greater than 1% sulphides, or 0.5% sulphides in bornite-dominant zones.

Secondary hypogene is a later overprint of mineralization upon primary sulphide mineralization by tennantite-enargite + tetrahedrite with possible bornite and chalcocite. The secondary overprint is associated with pervasive kaolinite-rich argillic alteration localized along narrow fault zones and is responsible for the introduction of the deleterious elements: arsenic, antimony, and mercury. It is thought to be related to late-stage, lower temperature low-pH fluids that ascended along high-angle structures and remobilized copper from primary sulphides to form sulphosalts and high-sulphidation state sulphide minerals. Secondary hypogene mineralization appears as sooty steel grey to bluish grey reaction rims on chalcopyrite blebs and stringer fractures. The distribution of secondary hypogene mineralization is very narrow and discontinuous and commonly restricted to faults such as the HW, J, E and D faults, particularly where they intersect.

The supergene mineralization type consists of native copper and chalcocite that formed through oxidation of primary sulfides within the uppermost portion of the deposit that were exposed to weathering and erosion during the Eocene to Quaternary. The domain is roughly conical in shape and centered below the New Afton pit, limited to the east by the M fault. The supergene domain is defined for logging purposes as having 0.5% or greater native copper, or, in the absence of native copper, intervals of strong oxidation with a threshold assay of 0.2% Cu.

The mineralized zone, as it is delineated to date, is a sub-vertically dipping, generally continuous, tabular body extending downwards from the base of the existing pit. The body plunges to the southwest at an angle of 50°, extending 1,570 m from surface to the lowest drill hole intercept. The Main Zone measures approximately 220 m across strike at its widest point, and it tapers with depth and along strike. Two smaller satellite bodies are located on the hanging wall side of the Main Zone, bringing the maximum width of mineralization subtended by all bodies to just over 470 m.


Mining Methods

  • Block caving

Source:

Summary:

The New Afton Mine is a block cave mining operation. Other mining methods, including open pit mining and sublevel caving, were considered but block caving was chosen for the New Afton deposit because this method starts from the bottom and is conducive to large-scale low-cost mining. Ore is transported from the drawpoints, on the extraction level, by a load haul dump loader (“LHD”) to an ore pass. The ore is then re-handled on the haulage level by an LHD and loaded into a haul truck. The haul truck transports the ore to the underground gyratory crusher and the crushed ore is conveyed to surface.

There are three general zones at the mine, located beneath and to the south west of the historic Afton open pit – Lift 1 (B1 & B2), B3 and C-Zone. Lift 1, including the Recovery Level program, was closed in the second quarter of 2022. Primary ore is being extracted from the B3 zone until such time as production from the C-Zone commences.

In the B3 block cave, located 160 m below and immediately to the west of Lift 1, ore will be hauled by truck to the existing gyratory crusher. In the C-Zone block cave, located 550 m below and to the west of Lift 1, ore will be hauled by LHD from the drawpoints to the ore passes and then to a new gyratory crusher. The ore will then be conveyed from the crusher to a junction with the existing conveyor for movement to surface.

The operation is planned to produce 4 to 6 Mtpa of copper-gold ore for processing over the life of mine. Waste mined as part of development activities is transported to surface by conveyor and deposited in an area apart from the ore via a belt plow. The waste is then trucked to an area on the edge of the historic Afton mine pit. Less than 5% of the mined rock is treated in this manner.


Crushing and Grinding
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Processing

  • Gravity separation
  • Inline Pressure Jig
  • Centrifugal concentrator
  • Flotation
  • Magnetic separation
  • Dewatering
  • Filter press

Flow Sheet: Source
Source: Source

Summary:

The process plant has been in operation since 2012. Throughput in the process plant has been averaging above the nameplate of 11,000 tpd since early 2013. A mill expansion was completed in 2015 to add a tertiary stage of grinding and additional flotation cleaning capacity. This allowed throughput to increase to a peak average of 16,420 tpd in 2017. Throughput for 2022 averaged approximately 9,100 tpd. The surface stockpiles used to supplement the lower tonnes mined in 2022 were exhausted by the third quarter of 2022. For 2023, the throughput is expected to be maintained throughout the year at approximately 8,100 tonnes per day.

To process supergene ore, which commenced in 2019, gravity recovery capacity was added to the ball mill circuit and increased in each of the tertiary and regrind circuits. In the ball mill circuit, two inline pressure jigs (one rougher and one cleaner) were installed along with a magnetic separator for removal of magnetite and a portion of the hematite from the cleaner jig concentrate. The jigs were selected for the ball mill circuit primarily due to their ability to process a coarse feed compared to flotation or centrifugal concentrators.

The flowsheet changes were made primarily to recover native copper; however, the jigs have also recovered native gold associated with the supergene ore. With supergene ore being completed during the third quarter of 2022, the gravity circuit operation will be adjusted in 2023 to focus on gold rather than native copper recovery. Life-of-mine recoveries are expected to average 90% for copper and 87% for gold. Recoveries in 2023 are expected to be 85%-92% for copper and 80% - 87% for gold.

FLOTATION
The tertiary grinding cyclone overflow flows by gravity into the rougher flotation circuit, which consists of two staged flotation reactor (SFR) cells in series followed by six 100 m3 flotation tank cells in series. The two SFRs were commissioned in Q2 2017. The concentrate from the rougher flotation cells is collected in launders and flows by gravity to the regrind circuit; the tailings from the final rougher cell is discharged into the tailings pumpbox.

The regrind circuit grinds the rougher flotation concentrate, to decrease the particle size to 80% passing 35 µm to 40 µm, prior to it being processed in the cleaner flotation cells. The regrind circuit consists of a 932 kW Vertimill in closed circuit with the regrind cyclopac. The underflow stream from two of the operating regrind cyclones is processed through two XD-40 Knelson concentrators to recover liberated gold and native copper from the regrind circuit. The Knelson concentrate discharges to the 3rd cleaner concentrate pumpbox, where it is pumped to the concentrate thickener. The Knelson concentrator tailings are discharged back to the regrind cyclone feed pumpbox. The regrind cyclone overflow discharges into the cleaner flotation circuit and the tailings flow to cleaner scavenger flotation. Cleaner scavenger tailings report to the tailings pumpbox. Three SFR cells were added to the head of cleaner flotation as part of the mill expansion project in 2015 to increase cleaner flotation capacity. The concentrate from these three cells is combined with the inline pressure jig final concentrate, 3rd cleaner concentrate, and regrind Knelson concentrates to produce the final copper concentrate for dewatering.

DEWATERING
The final concentrate is pumped to the concentrate thickener, where the solids achieve an underflow slurry density of approximately 55% solids. The slurry is pumped to an agitated tank and subsequently pumped into one of the two filter presses, where the concentrate is dewatered to less than 9% moisture. The dewatered concentrate is discharged from the filter presses directly into the concentrate storage shed, before being loaded onto trucks and transported to the Port of Vancouver for shipping.

TAILINGS
Currently, tailings streams from the rougher flotation and cleaner-scavenger flotation circuits are discharged into the tailings pump box and pumped to the tailings storage facility (TSF). The tailings are cycloned at the TSF for use in internal tailings dam construction.

Recoveries & Grades:

CommodityParameter2022202120202019201820172016
Gold Recovery Rate, % 8481808284.580.181.9
Gold Head Grade, g/t 0.470.410.450.470.530.560.65
Copper Recovery Rate, % 8381828383.280.884.4
Copper Head Grade, % 0.510.70.720.780.870.850.81

Production:

CommodityUnits2023202220212020201920182017
Gold oz 50,000-60,000 ^41,55152,45264,22068,78577,32986,163
Copper M lbs 38-48 ^316272798591
Gold Equivalent oz 130,000-160,000 ^111,860175,972204,416229,091279,755
Silver M oz 0.30.30.3
All production numbers are expressed as metal in concentrate. ^ Guidance / Forecast.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics202220212020201920182017
Daily processing rate 9,100 t15,116 t15,300 t16,400 t
Ore tonnes mined 2,060 kt4,470 kt5,763 kt5,437 kt5,839 kt6,325 kt
Waste 496 kt374 kt332 kt265 kt
Tonnes processed 3,323 kt4,886 kt5,532 kt5,584 kt5,354 kt5,993 kt
Daily mining rate 16,652 t15,620 t16,156 t
^ Guidance / Forecast.

Reserves at December 31, 2022:
For Mineral Reserves Lower cut-off:
A&B Zones: USD$ 10.00/t
B3 Block & C-Zone: USD$ 24.00/t
For Mineral Resources Lower Cut-off 0.40% CuEq.

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Proven & Probable 36,992 kt Gold 0.68 g/t 804 koz
Proven & Probable 36,992 kt Silver 1.7 g/t 1,999 koz
Proven & Probable 36,992 kt Copper 0.74 % 607 M lbs
Measured & Indicated 66,528 kt Gold 0.57 g/t 1,222 koz
Measured & Indicated 66,528 kt Silver 2.1 g/t 4,495 koz
Measured & Indicated 66,528 kt Copper 0.71 % 1,035 M lbs
Inferred 16,053 kt Gold 0.38 g/t 198 koz
Inferred 16,053 kt Silver 1.2 g/t 621 koz
Inferred 16,053 kt Copper 0.38 % 135 M lbs

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnits2023202220212020201920182017
Cash costs (sold) Gold Equivalent USD 1,075 / oz ^   1,395 / oz   912 / oz   657 / oz   517 / oz  
Total cash costs (sold) Gold Equivalent USD 1,503 / oz   1,042 / oz   759 / oz   647 / oz  
Total cash costs Copper USD 1.28 / lb   1.19 / lb   1.1 / lb  
Total cash costs Gold USD 637 / oz   495 / oz   530 / oz  
Total cash costs (sold) Gold USD -1,063 / oz†   -1,626 / oz†   -1,126 / oz†  
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold Equivalent USD 1,370 / oz ^   2,044 / oz   1,385 / oz   1,064 / oz   829 / oz  
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Copper USD 1.64 / lb   1.5 / lb   1.44 / lb  
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Gold USD 816 / oz   623 / oz   692 / oz  
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold USD -456 / oz†   -1,147 / oz†   -605 / oz†  
^ Guidance / Forecast.
† Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs:

Units202220212020
UG mining costs ($/t mined) USD 26.813.79.76
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD 15.710.77.91
G&A ($/t milled) USD 5.73.442.64

Financials:

Units2023202220212020201920182017
Capital expenditures (planned) M USD 165  
Sustaining costs M USD 56.5  54.2  57  37.7   32.6   39.3  
Growth Capital M USD 91.5  90.1  77.1  
Capital expenditures M USD 148  144.3  134.1  61.8   35.9   42.2  
Revenue M USD 182.7  319.6  274.7  271.7   314.1   302  
Operating Income M USD -29.7  112.4  91.7  8.4   51.1   54.2  
Pre-tax Income M USD 49   55.6  
After-tax Income M USD 80.3   55.4  


Pipelines and Water Supply
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Heavy Mobile Equipment:
HME TypeModelQuantityRef. Date
ANFO Loader 1 Feb 28, 2020
Drill (long hole) Sandvik DL 420 / DL 430 3 Feb 28, 2020
Drill (long hole) Sandvik DS300 2 Nov 18, 2022
Drill jumbo (two boom) Sandvik 4 Feb 28, 2020
Grader Caterpillar 14M 2 Feb 28, 2020
Loader Caterpillar 930G 4 Feb 28, 2020
Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) Sandvik Toro™ LH410 2 Feb 28, 2020
Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) Caterpillar R1600 10 Feb 28, 2020
Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) Caterpillar R2900G 4 Feb 28, 2020
Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) Sandvik LH518B 5 Jan 20, 2023
Rock bolter Tamrock 2 Feb 28, 2020
Rock bolter Sandvik DS310 4 Feb 28, 2020
Shotcreter 3 Feb 28, 2020
Trans Mixer 5 Feb 28, 2020
Truck (haul) Caterpillar AD45 7 Feb 28, 2020
Truck (underground) Sandvik Z50 2 Jan 20, 2023

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
Maintenance Superintendent Bryan Madsen LinkedIn Mar 10, 2023
Mine General Manager John Ritter LinkedIn Mar 10, 2023
Mine Manager Peter Prochotsky LinkedIn Mar 10, 2023
Mine Superintendent Jeffrey LaMarsh LinkedIn Mar 10, 2023
Process Manager Martin Froehling LinkedIn Mar 10, 2023

Staff:

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
675 2022
642 2021
583 2020
491 2019
411 2018
433 2017
446 31 477 2016

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Corporate Presentation 2023
Other 2023
Annual Information Form 2022
Financial Review 2022
Management Discussion & Analysis 2022
Other 2022
Press Release 2022
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2022
Annual Information Form 2021
Financial Review 2021
Management Discussion & Analysis 2021
Press Release 2021
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2021
Annual Information Form 2020
Financial Review 2020
Management Discussion & Analysis 2020
Press Release 2020
Press Release 2020
Technical Report 2020
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2020
Financial Review 2019
Management Discussion & Analysis 2019
Press Release 2019
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2019
Annual Information Form 2018
Financial Review 2018
Press Release 2018
Annual Information Form 2017
Financial Review 2017
Press Release 2017
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2017
Annual Information Form 2016
Financial Review 2016
Annual Report 2015
Technical Report 2015
Financial Review 2014

News:

NewsDate
New Gold Achieves Updated 2022 Guidance and Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Results February 16, 2023

Aerial view:

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