The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
KGC: NYSE/K.TO: TSX
Chairman: John Oliver
Chief Executive Officer: Paul Rollison
Chief Operating Officer: Warwick Morley-Jepson
Kinross Gold Corp. continues to carry out robust exploration at and around its Fort Knox gold mine in Interior Alaska, while quietly investigating other prospects around the state.
When Kinross began mining at Fort Knox in 1996, the deposit had 4.1 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves; going into 2015, the mine boasts 2.4 million ounces of gold contained in 263.8 million metric tons of reserves averaging 0.46 grams per metric ton gold.
This includes enough higher grade ore to feed the Fort Knox mill into 2017; lower grade reserves are scheduled to continue to be stacked on the Walter Creek heap leach pad at Fort Knox into 2019.
Above and beyond the mineral reserves that support the current mine plan, the area in and immediately surrounding the open-pit at Fort Knox has 75.9 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources, averaging 0.37 g/t (912,000 oz) gold.
At a roughly 20 percent lower grade than the current reserves, much of this material, if brought into the mine plan, would likely be stacked on the heap-leach pad.
The Gil gold property, located about five miles east of Fort Knox, is another source of potential ore to extend the life of the mine.
Gil has been defined by 73,876 meters of drilling in 738 holes, including 11,665 meters of drilling completed by Kinross after buying full ownership of the property in 2011.
Based on this exploration work, Gil has 29.5 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 0.56 g/t (532,700 oz) gold.
Kinross did not complete any drilling at Gil in 2014 but indicated it plans to resume exploration, including drilling, on the neighboring property this year.
Gilmore, an area immediately west of Fort Knox, is another prospect that could add to the mine's life.
In 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management authorized Kinross to conduct exploration on federal lands adjacent to the open-pit at Fort Knox that were previously withdrawn for use by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Soil sampling, geologic mapping, and drilling are planned for this potential pit expansion area.
About 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Fort Knox, Kinross continues to carry out early-stage gold exploration at its PB and NPB claims roughly located in the Circle Mining District.
The company invested about US$7.8 million on exploration at its Interior Alaska properties in 2014 and is carrying out a similar scale program this year.
Kinross also owns the White Gold property about 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of Dawson City, Yukon Territory. A 2008 discovery at this property sparked the recent Yukon gold rush, and Kinross picked up the project in 2010. At the end of 2014, Kinross reported 9.8 million metric tons of indicated resources at White Gold averaging 2.67 g/t (840,000 ounces) gold, and 2.17 million metric tons of inferred resources at 1.79 g/t (125,000) ounces gold. This is unchanged from the previous year.
Cash and short-term deposits: US$1.03 billion (June 30, 2015)
Working capital: US$2.02 billion (June 30, 2015)
Market capitalization: US$1.87 billion (Sept. 22, 2015)
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