Gold Mines in Newfoundland: 5 Projects Compared

Newfoundland has one large operating gold mine and one smaller one, and three more projects with published resources. The large one is Valentine, owned by Equinox Gold, which guides to 140,000 to 150,000 ounces of gold in 2026. The smaller one is Hammerdown, owned by New Found Gold, which declared commercial production on 16 September 2026. This page compares five projects on the island side by side: what each one holds, who owns it, what stage it is at, and what the numbers do and do not mean.

It is written for consultants, licence holders and analysts who need to check a project claim quickly. Every figure below comes from a company filing, a government page or a news release dated 2025 or 2026, and each carries its date.

Gold mines in Newfoundland at a glance

Gold figures are not like for like. Valentine’s number is a reserve (ounces that passed a mine study). The others are resources (ounces in the ground with less proof of being mineable). The table keeps the two apart, and the chart after it shows ounces in the single highest category each company reports.

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Gold in the highest category each company reports

Thousand ounces; Valentine is reserves, the others are resources (indicated; Hammerdown is measured and indicated)

Units used here: koz means thousand troy ounces, Moz means million troy ounces, and g/t means grams of gold per tonne of rock. About 31.1 grams make one troy ounce.

How we chose these five projects

We included every Newfoundland island project that, in a 2026 filing or release, shows a named owner and a stated gold reserve or resource: one mine in full production, one mine that entered commercial production in 2026, and three development or exploration projects. The provincial government’s gold map also marks many smaller occurrences and past producers, such as Point Rousse, Nugget Pond, Tilt Cove, Moosehead and Golden Promise, but none has a current published resource statement, so they are not ranked here. This is a status comparison, not a recommendation to buy shares or stake ground.

How to read the numbers

Four terms decide whether a figure is solid. A reserve is the part of a resource that a study shows can be mined at a profit. An indicated resource has enough drilling to estimate tonnes and grade with reasonable confidence, and an inferred resource has less. A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) is an early study that may include inferred ounces, so it is a conceptual plan and not a reserve. AISC, or all-in sustaining cost, is the cost to produce an ounce including sustaining capital.

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Grade of the headline figure for each project

Grams of gold per tonne (g/t)

Grade matters as much as ounces. A higher grade means more gold per tonne moved and milled. Valentine’s reserve grade of 1.66 g/t is lower than the resource grades at the four other projects, Lower grade is offset by volume at a mine of this size.

Valentine: Equinox Gold’s open-pit mine

Valentine sits in central Newfoundland and spans a 32-km mineralised trend with several deposits. Equinox Gold began processing ore in August 2025, poured first gold in September and reached commercial production in November 2025. The plant’s nameplate capacity is 6,850 tonnes per day. In 2025 the mine poured 23,816 ounces, and Equinox lists 2026 guidance of 140,000 to 150,000 ounces at an AISC of $2,000 to $2,200 per ounce, updated on 5 August 2026.

In the second quarter of 2026 Valentine produced 32,617 ounces, and the plant averaged 7,730 tonnes per day, or 113% of nameplate, according to Equinox’s second-quarter production release. Equinox reports in US dollars. For scale, 140,000 to 150,000 ounces is about 4.4 to 4.7 tonnes of gold, roughly 2% of the 200 tonnes the USGS estimates Canada mined in 2025.

Best for: readers who want the clearest example of a full-scale Newfoundland gold mine with published reserves.

• Pros: reserves of 2,748 koz at 1.66 g/t, plus 1,169 koz of measured and indicated resources that sit outside the reserves; a Phase 2 expansion plan to lift throughput from 2.5 to about 5.0 million tonnes a year; and a new discovery, Minotaur, 8 km north of the mill, announced on 2 February 2026.
• Cons: a ramp-up that is still under way, with an AISC guidance of $2,000 to $2,200 per ounce. The Frank Zone, which could become a fourth open pit, is a prospect and not part of the reserves.

Hammerdown and the Pine Cove mill: New Found Gold’s first mine

New Found Gold bought Maritime Resources in 2025, which gave it the Hammerdown deposit and the permitted Pine Cove mill. In its February 2026 study, the company laid out a 13-year hub-and-spoke plan that feeds three deposits (Hammerdown, Orion and Stog’er Tight) to Pine Cove. The plan recovers 251,287 ounces in total, about 19.3 koz a year, at an average AISC of US$2,429 per ounce. Its resource base is 3,328 kt at 2.43 g/t (260 koz measured and indicated) and 2,132 kt at 2.34 g/t (161 koz inferred). No reserves are defined, so this is a PEA.

The plan mines ore at an average 2.19 g/t and sorts it to 2.89 g/t before milling. In its 11 June 2026 update, the company said deliveries to the mill had reached the 700-tonne-per-day design rate and that it expected 20,000 to 25,000 ounces a year. The mill is fed by trucks over about 95 km, according to the Canadian Mining Journal. The company’s 16 September 2026 release says the commercial-production benchmarks (throughput, recovery and feed grade) were met over 60 consecutive days ending 19 August 2026, at about 748 tonnes per day, 87.7% recovery and 2.92 g/t.

Best for: anyone tracking how a small, high-grade vein mine behaves when it is fed to a shared mill.

• Pros: a permitted mill with room to expand from 700 to 1,400 tonnes per day, and a plan that brings two more deposits to the same plant.
• Cons: an AISC near US$2,400 to US$2,500 per ounce and narrow veins that need tight dilution control, as the Canadian Mining Journal notes.

▶ Follows one gold nugget from rock to ring, showing the drilling, crushing, leaching and refining steps behind mill output. · 5:27

Queensway: New Found Gold’s flagship project

Queensway, near Gander, is New Found Gold’s flagship. The Canadian Mining Journal reports that drilling began in 2020 and found high-grade gold along a 22-km stretch, and that the 2025 PEA outlined 1.5 million ounces of gold production over 15 years. Per the same article, the company plans to send the first Phase 1 material to Pine Cove in late 2027 and reach commercial production in 2028.

The July 2025 PEA used indicated resources of 18.0 million tonnes at 2.40 g/t (1.39 Moz, from the March 2025 resource estimate) and inferred resources of 10.7 million tonnes at 1.77 g/t (0.61 Moz). It assumed a gold price of US$2,500 per ounce. New Found Gold says an updated resource estimate that includes the Dropkick discovery is due in the second half of 2026. The article from the Canadian Mining Journal says that less than 4.5 km of the company’s 110-km trend has been explored in detail.

Best for: readers looking for the largest resource base among the projects that are not yet producing.

• Pros: the largest indicated resource of the projects not yet producing, and a staged plan that starts with a small open pit.
• Cons: it is a PEA with inferred ounces, not a reserve, and it needs permits and financing before any production.

Hope Brook: a past producer in the southwest

Hope Brook, on the southwest coast, produced 752,162 ounces of gold from 1987 to 1997, according to current owner Big Ridge Gold. The company reports an indicated resource of 16.19 million tonnes at 2.32 g/t (1.2 Moz) and an inferred resource of 2.215 million tonnes at 3.25 g/t (231 koz), using a long-term gold price of US$1,750 per ounce. Big Ridge began a 2026 drill programme on 16 June 2026, with infill and step-out drilling at the 240 and Main Zones and about 2,000 metres of geotechnical and hydrogeological drilling.

Hope Brook is geologically different from the rest of the list. Big Ridge describes it as a high-sulphidation epithermal system, meaning gold laid down by hot, acid fluids near the surface, hosted in Proterozoic sandstone and surrounded by a wide halo of altered rock that includes pyrophyllite, kaolinite, andalusite and alunite. Clay-rich alteration like this is the type of pattern that multispectral satellite sensors are used to look for.

Best for: readers who want a high-grade, past-producing site with site infrastructure.

• Pros: a documented production history, existing infrastructure (a camp, an airstrip, a dock and a grid connection, per the company) and a 2026 drill programme under way.
• Cons: the resource uses a US$1,750 gold price, below the US$2,500 base case in the Queensway study, and no PEA has been published.

Cape Ray: a shear zone with an older resource

AuMEGA Metals (formerly Matador Mining) holds the Cape Ray project along the Cape Ray Shear Zone in the southwest of the island. Its February 2026 update repeated a 2023 resource: indicated 6.2 Mt at 2.25 g/t for 450,000 ounces, and inferred 3.4 Mt at 1.44 g/t for 160,000 ounces, at a US$1,750 gold price. The company said it is assessing an update that would include higher gold prices, more drilling and silver.

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Indicated against inferred ounces

Thousand ounces; Valentine has no inferred figure on its page and is left out

On 28 July 2026 AuMEGA started drilling at the Isle aux Morts Granite and Cape Ray West, two targets that have never been drilled, and planned to move to Bunker Hill later in the summer.

Best for: readers who follow shear-zone exploration and want a project with a clear drill-target pipeline.

• Pros: a defined resource, a large land position along the shear zone, and first-ever drilling of new targets in 2026.
• Cons: a 450 koz indicated resource from a 2023 estimate that used a US$1,750 gold price; the company said in February 2026 it is assessing an update.

Why gold in Newfoundland looks the way it does

The Newfoundland Department of Energy and Mines describes the island as an emerging, under-explored gold district. Its gold poster says past production came from epithermal (gold and copper) and orogenic (gold only) deposits, and as a by-product of volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mines. Current and recent production, it says, comes from orogenic and VMS deposits. The island is split into the Humber, Dunnage, Gander and Avalon zones, each with a different rock history.

An orogenic gold deposit forms when mountain-building squeezes hot fluids along major faults and the gold drops out in quartz veins. That is why shear zones and veins dominate the targets above: the Cape Ray Shear Zone for AuMEGA, and the vein systems at Hammerdown and Queensway. Epithermal deposits such as Hope Brook form closer to the surface and leave broad zones of clay and silica alteration. Satellites cannot see gold itself, but they can map iron stains, clay and fault lines that sit around it, which is why satellite screening is a first step on a licence, followed by field sampling and drilling.

How much is spent exploring the island of Newfoundland

The provincial exploration statistics show that spending on the island rose from C$36.3 million in 2019 to a peak of C$220.1 million in 2022. It then eased to C$138.8 million in 2024, and was preliminarily C$171.1 million in 2025, with C$187.9 million planned for 2026. For wider context, our post on mineral exploration spending in Canada compares provinces using Natural Resources Canada data.

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Exploration spending on the island of Newfoundland

C$ million; 2025 is preliminary and 2026 is the stated intention; Labrador excluded

Natural Resources Canada’s preliminary 2025 data also name Newfoundland and Labrador among the jurisdictions with notable spending increases in 2025, with deposit appraisal spending up by $67 million on 2024. The same province-wide table lists Labrador separately, so the figures above leave out Labrador. The Canadian Mining Journal adds that more than 100,000 claims were staked on the island in 2021, the second-highest total in provincial history, much of it in central Newfoundland.

Silver in Newfoundland gold projects

Silver is a secondary question here. Of the five projects, only Cape Ray’s owner says it is assessing adding silver to a future resource; the other four report gold only. The government poster does say that past gold production included by-product gold from VMS mines, but none of the five reports a silver resource figure. If you are comparing silver-led developers in Canada, see our note on Discovery Silver.

What to check before you option or stake near these projects

For a quick screen on any property near the projects above, work through five checks, ideally in this order.

1. Search the occurrence database. The province’s Mineral Occurrence Data System holds over 7,600 records, and you can query it through the Geoscience Atlas or the MODS form. Records list location, deposit type, work history and resource statistics.
2. Read the exploration statistics for your area. Look at claims, drilling and spending by year to see whether activity is rising or falling nearby.
3. Check the resource category and the gold price used. A resource built on US$1,750 gold, like Hope Brook and Cape Ray, is not comparable with one built on US$2,500 or more.
4. Separate reserves, resources and targets. Only Valentine has reserves among the five. Everything else needs more drilling and studies.
5. Screen the ground from space. Sentinel-2 imagery can map iron oxide, clay and structural lines across a licence before you spend on field crews. The result is an exploration target, ahead of any resource estimate. Our satellite-based mineral detection page explains the method, and the mining query form is where you request a quote for a project area. For broader Canadian context, see gold deposits by province and our companion post on Newfoundland deposits and claims. Questions can go to our team.

Once you have a grade and tonnage from a filing, the calculator below turns them into contained and recovered ounces, and a gross margin per ounce. All inputs are examples, so replace them with figures from the filing you are checking and today’s gold price.

▶ Explains what satellites can and cannot see when screening ground for gold. · 4:25

For a closer look at a related question, see our guide: Gold Deposits in Queensland: 10 Fields and Mines Compared.

If this topic matters to you, read Wyoming Gold Projects Compared: Ounces and Status next.

Frequently asked questions

Is there gold in Newfoundland?

Yes. Valentine is producing gold now, with 2026 guidance of 140,000 to 150,000 ounces (Equinox Gold, August 2026), and Hammerdown declared commercial production in September 2026 (New Found Gold). Hope Brook produced 752,162 ounces between 1987 and 1997.

Which are the main gold mines in Newfoundland?

Two sites are producing in 2026: Valentine (Equinox Gold) and Hammerdown with the Pine Cove mill (New Found Gold). Queensway, Hope Brook and Cape Ray are projects with resources but no production yet.

Who owns the Valentine gold mine?

Equinox Gold owns 100% of Valentine, according to the company’s mine page.

How much gold is in the Valentine reserves?

Equinox lists 2,748 koz at 1.66 g/t in reserves, plus 1,169 koz at 1.24 g/t of measured and indicated resources that are not part of the reserves.

Is Hope Brook an operating mine?

No. Hope Brook is a past producer that stopped in 1997, and Big Ridge Gold is drilling it in 2026 to expand and upgrade its resource.

What is the difference between a reserve and a resource?

A reserve is the part of a resource that a mine study shows can be mined at a profit. A resource has not passed that test. Valentine reports reserves; the other four projects here report resources.

Is there a new silver discovery in Newfoundland?

None of the five projects reports a new silver discovery. Cape Ray’s owner says it is assessing silver for a future resource update, but gave no silver figure.

How do I look up a known gold occurrence in Newfoundland?

Search the provincial Mineral Occurrence Data System through the Geoscience Atlas. It holds over 7,600 records with deposit type and work history.

What type of gold deposit is common in Newfoundland?

The provincial gold poster says production has come from orogenic, epithermal and volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits. Orogenic vein systems are the main targets for Valentine-style and Cape Ray-style exploration.

How much does Newfoundland spend on exploration?

Preliminary provincial figures put 2025 exploration spending on the island at C$171.1 million, with C$187.9 million planned for 2026.