New Gold Inc. said May 9 that Hannes Portmann stepped down as president and CEO to pursue other opportunities and will be succeeded by director Raymond Threlkeld.

Threlkeld has been part of the Toronto-listed miner's board since 2009 and was interim COO from December 2016 to September 2017.

New Gold's output increased to 122,315 ounces of gold in the first quarter from 89,327 ounces a year ago, due to the first full quarter of production from the Rainy River mine in Ontario and higher output from the Mesquite mine in California.