New Gold Inc. (TSX:NGD) cashed in on record gold prices last year, posting the highest production volumes and lowest cash costs in company history.
On Wednesday, the Vancouver-based mining company, which operates three gold mines, said it produced 382,911 ounces of gold last year, exceeding a guidance range between 330,000 and 360,000 ounces.
As well, the cost to pull the yellow metal out of the ground last year totalled $428 per ounce.
That’s well below the company’s original guidance range, which predicted a cash cost between $445 and $465 per ounce.
New Gold has issued a new production forecast for 2011, and expects to produce somewhere between 380,000 and 400,000 ounces of gold this year.
The company has also updated its cash cost guidance for the year, lowering it to between $430 and $450 per ounce.
On top of that, New Gold had $491 million sitting in the bank as of December 31, $100 million of which had been generated since September 30, 2010.
“2010 was a great year for our company as we achieved multiple goals; most notably our operations continued to deliver strong results,” commented Randall Oliphant, New Gold’s executive chairman. “We were able to meaningfully increase the underlying value of our asset base and our significant year-end cash balance provides us enhanced financial flexibility.”
Oliphant added that 2011 would be a “significant capital” year to position the company’s operations and projects for production growth and cash flow generation.
In addition to mines in the U.S., Mexico and Australia, New Gold is busy developing its New Afton mine near Kamloops.
That project is expected to begin production in mid-2012, and will produce 85,000 ounces of gold and 75 million pounds of copper per year.
New Gold plans to spend $290 million developing New Afton this year.
At press time, the company’s shares were up $0.13 to $8.31.