10:59 AM EDT, 09/08/2025 (MT Newswires) -- New Gold ( NGD ) rose 2.1% to CA$8.92 at last look after providing an update on exploration programs at its New Afton and Rainy River mines in Canada.

At New Afton, the company said underground drilling confirmed the width and continuity of previously reported mineralization at K-Zone and identified additional copper-gold porphyry mineralization from the roots of the zone.

Highlights from K-Zone included 4.90% copper equivalent over 48 meters and 3.87% copper equivalent over 155 meters.

At Rainy River, New Gold ( NGD ) said surface drilling extended the NW Trend mineralization while underground drilling expanded existing mining zones.

Results included 3.20 gold equivalent over 10 meters and 1.68 gold equivalent over 16 meters.

"The remarkable exploration success at New Afton exemplifies the high quality of this asset and demonstrates the upside potential not yet captured in the reserve and resource statement," said Patrick Godin, New Gold's ( NGD ) president and chief executive.

"Rainy River, having only recently restarted exploration campaigns of significant scale, is already contributing to offsetting mining depletion through incremental extensions of existing mining zones," Godin said.

New Gold ( NGD ) said it plans to increase its consolidated 2025 exploration budget by $6 million to add 15,000 m of drilling at K-Zone.

National Bank of Canada reaffirmed its outperform rating and $8 price target on New Gold ( NGD ) following the update.

The bank said its price target is based on a 100% weighted 3.75x next-12-month EV/EBITDA multiple.

"We view the results as supportive of New Gold's ( NGD ) strategy to extend mine life at both operations and expect the maiden K-Zone resource and Rainy River conversion progress to be key catalysts in early 2026," the bank said.

National Bank expects the stock to react positively to the update.

Price: 8.97, Change: +0.23, Percent Change: +2.57