New Gold Inc. (TSX: NGD) (NYSE American: NGD) decided to suspend its operations at the award-winning New Afton Mine in Kamloops, British Columbia after noting “geotechnical variances”.
The company announced Thursday that the variances require further review by the engineer of record and the move is only out of an abundance of caution.
“The company has elected to suspend underground mining activities allowing its EOR appropriate time to review the findings,” said New Gold in a statement.
Underground operations have been suspended but milling operations continue and are using the current surface stockpile. Pit-tailings deposition is also going as planned.
The company has two core producing assets in Canada, one in the Rainy River gold mine and the New Afton copper-gold mine.
New Gold saw a dip in its stock on Thursday by 7.75 per cent to $1.31 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Read more: New Gold reduces greenhouse gasses at its New Afton mine: ESG report
Read more: New Gold and Rio Tinto mines win Towards Sustainable Mining Excellence awards for 2023
New Afton primarily mines copper and gold in copper concentrates. The mine uses the underground mass mining method called block caving that extracts larger and lower grade deposits than traditional methods. This is the only operating block cave mine in Canada.
This method involves the strategic extraction of large volumes of ore from deep beneath the earth’s surface. By creating an undercut and allowing the ore to naturally cave and break down, miners can collect significant amounts of ore in a relatively short time.
While it offers reduced operating costs and increased safety, potential surface subsidence remains a concern. Experts believe that with careful planning, block caving could revolutionize the way low-grade ore bodies are mined.
Last May, New Gold –Along with Rio Tinto’s (NYSE: RIO) (ASX: RIO) (LON: RIO) Diavik diamond mine– received awards for its sustainable practices. The Mining Association of Canada elected them as winners of this year’s Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) Excellence Awards.
