New Gold halts New Afton mine on tailings safety woes

New Afton mine in B.C. (Image courtesy of New Gold.)

Shares in New Gold (TSX, NYSE: NGD) fell more than 9% in Toronto on Thursday after it said it had halted underground mining activities at its New Afton gold-copper mine in Kamloops, British Columbia, following an inspection.

The Canadian company said experts observed geotechnical variances at the mine’s tailings storage facility during an inspection on Wednesday. It added the area will have to be further reviewed by the company’s engineer.

As a result, New Gold said that it has suspended underground mining activities to allow the review to take place.

Milling operations will continue as normal, using existing surface stockpiles while the review takes place, it said.

Shares in New Gold were down more than 9% to C$1.29 mid-morning in the Toronto Stock Exchange and 8.4% to US 96 cents in New York.