TORONTO, June 19, 2023 /CNW/ - New Gold Inc. ("New Gold" or the "Company") (TSX: NGD) (NYSE American: NGD) is pleased to announce the publication of its 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance Report (the "2022 ESG Report"). New Gold has published an annual report on sustainability since 2015, reporting on safety, environmental, economic, and social topics important to the communities where we operate, our employees, and other stakeholders. The 2022 ESG Report is available on New Gold's Sustainability Microsite, accessible through our website at www.newgold.com.

"With the release of our 2022 ESG Report, we are acknowledging the incredible work done by our teams and community partners," stated Patrick Godin, President and CEO. "The report is much more than a list of accomplishments—it furthers our commitments to exceptional ESG performance not because it is our duty, but because it is the right thing to do. This year, we continued to refine the way we share this information by providing three distinct reports on the areas of environment, social and governance as we execute against our Sustainability Strategy."

"We remain focused on achieving our goals in a way that first and foremost keeps our people and communities safe," added Godin. "I'm proud of the improvements to our health and safety performance across the Company. We also celebrated significant production milestones at both our Rainy River and New Afton operations while keeping sustainability and safety top of mind. We are well-equipped and positioned to forge the path forward and New Gold will continue to deliver."

The 2022 ESG Report was prepared against the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, the G4 Mining and Metals Sector Disclosures, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Metals and Mining Standards and the Mining Local Procurement Reporting Mechanism ("LPRM") to allow for integration of sustainability accounting. For the 2022 ESG Report, the Company once again mapped against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) to expand how New Gold communicates performance to stakeholders. The Company continues to align reporting with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures ("TCFD") and is developing an update to its TCFD Report.

2022 Highlights
Total recordable injury frequency rate ("TRIFR") decreased from 1.73 in 2021 to 0.95 in 2022, meeting New Gold's target TRIFR of under 1.00.
New Afton exceeded both its energy savings and greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions reductions in objectives in 2022. Further, the deployment of four battery electric production vehicles ("BEV") at New Afton resulted in a GHG emissions reduction of 327 tCO2e (based on annualized 2022 hours of operation) and annualized energy savings of 1,009 MWhe. Two additional BEV haul trucks are expected to be delivered to New Afton by July 2023.
New Gold continues to develop the Beyond New Afton and Beyond Rainy River social closure plans through community outreach and consultation. In 2022, New Afton engaged with Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc and Skeetchestn Indian Band, hosting four open houses with the two communities. In follow-up to the engagement, information provided was validated and community members were given the opportunity to provide additional feedback.
Achieved compliance with Mining Association of Canada's (MAC) Towards Sustainable Mining ("TSM") Protocols and Canadian Dam Association (CDA) requirements for all tailings management plans. New Afton self-assessed AAA rating on all five indicators under the Tailings Management Protocol and all five indicators under the Energy and GHG Management Protocol. Rainy River achieved one AA score on its first external verification against the new TSM Climate Change Protocol.
Increased total Indigenous procurement spend at Rainy River and New Afton by approximately 28% to C$248 million. The Company continues to seek opportunities for local and Indigenous vendors to participate in our supply chain and to report on annual spend through the LPRM.
Updated New Gold's water objective to be more in line with the watersheds the Company operates in. New Gold created a specialized interdepartmental water team at both sites to focus on water management. The Company continues to establish operational water balance models at each site to further develop water related targets.
Launched New Gold's inaugural TCFD report, inclusive of climate risk assessment and scenario analysis results.
About New Gold
New Gold is a Canadian-focused intermediate mining company with a portfolio of two core producing assets in Canada, the Rainy River gold mine and the New Afton copper-gold mine. The Company also holds other Canadian-focused investments. New Gold's vision is to build a leading diversified intermediate gold company based in Canada that is committed to the environment and social responsibility. For further information on the Company, visit www.newgold.com