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Fourth Consecutive Quarter of Free Cash Flow Generation, Strategic Corporate Activities Supporting the Transformation of New Gold's Growth

• The Company generated cash flow from operations of $108 million and free cash flow⁴ of $25 million after investing over $43 million in advancing growth projects during the quarter. This was highlighted by New Afton's impressive $52 million in free cash flow². The Company exited the first quarter in a strong financial position, with cash and cash equivalents of $213 million.
  
  

• On February 12, 2025, the Company provided its three-year operational outlook and filed Technical Reports for the New Afton and Rainy River mines outlining New Gold's strong production profile with declining costs, strong free cash flow generation and increasing net asset value while also highlighting upside to build on over the longer-term (see February 12, 2025 news release for additional information).
  
  

• On March 4, 2025, the Company completed a $400 million senior notes offering with an interest rate of 6.875% and due in 2032 that was used to fund the purchase and cancellation of approximately $289 million of its outstanding 7.50% senior notes due in 2027. The Company intends to redeem the approximately $111 million remaining 2027 senior notes on or about July 15, 2025. In connection with the offering, S&P upgraded the Company's corporate rating from B to B+, upgraded the bond rating from B to BB-, and upgraded their outlook from Stable to Positive. Moody's maintained the Company's B2 corporate rating and B3 rating on the bonds and upgraded their outlook from Stable to Positive.
  
  

• On March 24, 2025, the Company and its syndicate of lenders executed an amendment to its existing revolving credit facility. Under the amendment, the term has been extended by four years, now maturing on March 23, 2029. An accordion feature has also been added, which allows the principal amount of the credit facility to be increased by up to $100 million, subject to certain conditions.
  
  

• Subsequent to quarter end, the Company entered into an agreement with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to acquire the remaining 19.9% free cash flow interest in the Company's New Afton Mine. The transaction is to be funded with cash on hand, borrowings from its existing credit facility, and a gold prepayment financing. Importantly, the transaction comes with no equity dilution to New Gold shareholders. Following the transaction, the Company will have fully consolidated its free cash flow interest in New Afton to 100%. The transaction is expected to close in early May (see April 7, 2025 news release for additional information). The $100 million gold prepayment associated with the New Afton transaction was finalized in mid-April. The Company has agreed to deliver approximately 2,771 ounces of gold per month over the July 2025 to June 2026 period at an average price of $3,157 per gold ounce.

New Afton K-Zone First Exploration Drill Bay Complete, Both Operations Advance Technical Studies for Growth Projects

• At New Afton, the exploration priority for 2025 remains on K-Zone. Development of the 4500 Level exploration drift to target K-Zone is well advanced, with the first exploration drill bay now operational. The new exploration drift will facilitate infill drilling to support Mineral Resource development and exploration drilling to test extensions to the east and at depth. In parallel, preliminary technical studies are underway to assess potential mining scenarios for K-Zone, HW Zone, and D-Zone with the potential to extend New Afton mine life beyond 2031.
  
  

• At Rainy River, following the significant increase in open pit Mineral Resources in 2024, the Company continues to expand, define, and evaluate opportunities to extend open pit mine life and keep the processing plant operating at full capacity beyond 2029. First quarter drilling was focused on testing growth opportunities along the NW Trend open pit target, while technical studies on potential pushbacks to the south of the main pit advanced, including the evaluation of waste rock and tailings storage options.

Consolidated Financial Highlights

• Revenue increased over the prior-year period primarily due to higher metal prices and higher copper sales volume, partially offset by lower gold sales volume.
  
  

• Operating expenses were in-line with the prior-year period. Depreciation expense decreased when compared to the prior-year period due to lower gold production and open-pit tonnes mined at Rainy River.
  
  

• Net earnings increased over the prior-year period primarily due to an increase in revenues. Adjusted net earnings¹ were relatively in-line with the prior-year period.
  
  

• Cash generated from operations and free cash flow¹ increased over the prior-year period primarily due to higher revenue.

Consolidated Operational Highlights

New Afton Mine

Operational Highlights

Operating Key Performance Indicators

• First quarter production was 18,278 ounces of gold (inclusive of ore purchase agreements) and 13.6 million pounds of copper. The increase over the prior-year period was due to higher tonnes processed, partially offset by lower grade and recovery.
  
  

• Operating expenses per gold ounce sold⁵ and per copper pound sold decreased over the prior-year period, primarily due to higher gold and copper sales volumes, and lower underground mining and processing costs with the gyratory crusher completed in Q4 2024 reducing underground haulage costs.
  
  

• All-in sustaining costs^1,2 per gold ounce sold decreased over the prior-year period, primarily due to higher sales volumes, higher by-product revenues, and lower sustaining capital spend.
  
  

• Total capital expenditures decreased over the prior-year period due to lower sustaining and growth capital spend. Sustaining capital¹ primarily related to equipment and vehicles. Growth capital¹ primarily related to C-Zone underground mine development, and cave construction.
  
  

• Free cash flow was $52 million, an improvement over the prior-year period due to higher revenues and lower operating expenses.

Rainy River Mine

Operational Highlights

Operating Key Performance Indicators

• First quarter gold production was 33,908 ounces, a decrease over the prior-year period as planned primarily due to the focus on waste stripping in the quarter, which resulted in the majority of the mill feed coming from the low-grade stockpile.
  
  

• Operating expenses per gold ounce sold increased over the prior-year period due to lower sales volumes.
  
  

• All-in sustaining costs^1,2 per gold ounce sold increased over the prior-year period primarily due to lower sales volumes, and higher sustaining capital from capitalized waste stripping.
  
  

• Total capital expenditures increased over the prior-year period due to higher sustaining and growth capital spend. Sustaining capital¹ primarily related to capitalized waste stripping, tailings dam raise, and capital components. Growth capital¹ related to underground development as the Underground Main and Intrepid zones continue to advance.
  
  

• Free cash flow was a net outflow of $13 million (net of $6 million stream payment), a decrease compared to the prior-year period primarily due to lower revenue.

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.

• Participants may listen to the webcast by registering on our website at www.newgold.com or via the following link https://app.webinar.net/Z0RMlnOPaWp
  
  

• Participants may also listen to the conference call by calling North American toll free 1-888-699-1199, or 1-416-945-7677 outside of the U.S. and Canada, passcode 65691
  
  

• To join the conference call without operator assistance, you may register and enter your phone number at https://emportal.ink/4kIQyPi to receive an instant automated call back.
  
  

• A recorded playback of the conference call will be available until May 30, 2025 by calling North American toll free 1-888-660-6345, or 1-289-819-1450 outside of the U.S. and Canada, passcode 65691. An archived webcast will also be available at www.newgold.com

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.

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SOURCE New Gold Inc.