NEW GOLD $11.84 (Toronto symbol NGD; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (888-315-9715; www.newgold- .com; Shares outstanding: 462.0 million; Market cap: $5.5 billion; No dividends paid) has four operating mines: the Mesquite mine in the U.S., the Cerro San Pedro mine in Mexico, the Peak mine in Australia and the just-completed New Afton mine in B.C. It also owns 30% of the El Morro copper/gold project in Chile (Goldcorp Inc. owns the other 70%).
El Morro contains an estimated 4.7 million ounces of gold and 3.7 billion pounds of copper. New Gold also owns the Blackwater property in central B.C., which could hold as much as 7.8 million ounces of gold.
The company reported cash flow of $0.12 per share in the three months ended June 30, 2012, up 20.0% from $0.10 a share a year earlier.
New Gold’s $384.7 million of long-term debt is just 7.0% of its market cap. It holds cash of $230.4 million, or $0.50 a share. That gives it lots of funds to further develop its mines and make acquisitions.
The company produced 387,155 ounces of gold in 2011. This year, it expects to produce between 405,000 to 445,000 ounces. That includes as much as 45,000 ounces from the New Afton mine, which started up in August.
New Gold is a buy.