Fort Knox on pace for 400,000 oz

Kinross Gold Corp. Nov. 8 reported that its Fort Knox Mine near Fairbanks, Alaska, produced 101,077 ounces of gold during the third quarter, a roughly 8 percent decrease from the 110,396 oz recovered during the same period last year.

The company attributes the decrease to lower tonnage stacked on the heap leach pad.

The Fort Knox mill processed 3.23 million metric tons of ore averaging 0.78 grams per metric ton gold during the quarter, compared to 3.27 million metric tons averaging 0.68 g/t last year.

Additionally, 6.09 million metric tons of ore averaging 0.26 g/t gold was processed on the heap leap pad, compared to 9.51 million metric tons averaging 0.26 g/t during the third quarter of 2016.

The per-ounce cost of Fort Knox gold sold during the third quarter was US$641, a 14 percent drop from the US$743 production cost of sales during the same period last year.

Kinross attributes the lower production costs largely to a decrease in operating waste mined and lower contractor costs as the site began to transition more of its maintenance in-house.

During the first nine months of 2017, Fort Knox produced 285,933 oz of gold, down about 2 percent from the 292,465 oz during the first three quarters of 2016.

Considering the fourth quarter is typically the highest gold producing month for Fort Knox, the Interior Alaska mine is on pace to produce just under 400,000 ounces of gold in 2017.

-SHANE LASLEY