Rimfire Pacific Mining NL said Feb. 25 that New Gold Inc. will not proceed with the next stage of the earn-in deal on Rimfire's Fifield gold project in New South Wales, Australia, terminating the companies' agreement with immediate effect.

According to Rimfire, the move completes New Gold's exit from Australia after the company signed a deal in 2017 to sell its only other project in the country. New Gold Vice President Mark Petersen said terminating the Fifield earn-in is a "result of a recent change" in the company's direction.

New Gold spent over A$2 million on the Fifield project in 2017, and its withdrawal will give Rimfire full ownership. Rimfire expects to resume drilling at the project's Tout East and Area 2 locations in the coming days, and a new mapping program is due to start in March.

Rimfire said it may assess additional partnership opportunities for the development of the Fifield project.