VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Precious metals miner New Gold has reported a headline loss of $2.3-million for the three months ended December 31, as lower gold and silver sales volumes more than offset the benefit of higher gold and silver prices and higher copper sales volumes.

The Toronto-headquartered company announced late on Wednesday that higher realised copper, silver and gold prices were offset by a 29% decrease in gold sales to 93 936 oz, mainly attributable to the Peak Mines, which had benefited from mining and processing significantly higher gold grade material in the previous year, and Cerro San Pedro transitioning into residual leaching.

New Gold's 2016 revenue of $684-million was 4% lower year-on-year.

The company reported a net loss of $20-million, or $0.04 a share, in the fourth quarter. Analysts had on average expected adjusted earnings a share of $0.01. The net loss included the impact of a noncash $27-million inventory write-down at Cerro San Pedro, a $7-million pre-tax foreign exchange loss and a noncash $6-million after-tax impairment charge related to an early-stage royalty interest at Rio Figueroa, which was partially offset by a $16-million pre-tax unrealised gain on the company's gold price option contracts and a $3-million pre-tax unrealised gain on the company's gold stream obligation.

New Gold's 2016 year-end cash and cash equivalents were $186-million.

The company had previously reported production of 95 900 oz of gold and 26-million pounds of copper, achieving the mid-point of its 2016 gold guidance and exceeding the high end of the copper guidance by 10%. The company delivered fourth-quarter all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of $619/oz, including total cash costs of $360/oz, which was the lowest cost quarter of the year and consistent with the prior-year quarter. The company's strong fourth-quarter performance reduced New Gold's 2016 AISC to a record low $692/oz, including total cash costs of $349/oz.

In 2017, New Gold expects to produce 380 000 oz to 430 000 oz of gold and 100-million to 110-million pounds of copper at an AISC of between $825/oz and 865/oz.

"Our three primary areas of focus in 2017 are enhancing our financial flexibility, executing our updated Rainy River plan and continuing to deliver operationally. Looking further ahead, we feel well positioned for the long term with a robust gold reserve base of 15-million ounces,” stated president and CEO Hannes Portmann.

New Gold’s stock on Thursday rose a modest 2.67% on the TSX to change hands at C$4.23 a share, after losing 12.53% since the start of the year.