Kinross looking to sink underground ramp at Great Bear in 2025

Following the completion of its 2023 drilling program, Kinross has increased Great Bear’s mineral resource estimate to approximately 2.8 Moz. of measured and indicated resources and approximately 3.3 Moz. of inferred resources. This includes the addition of more than one million higher-grade, underground inferred ounces, representing a 45% year-over-year increase.

At the Great Bear project, the company’s robust exploration program continues to make excellent progress, execution planning for the advanced exploration program is well underway, and permitting continues to advance on plan.

Kinross continues to add higher-grade material to the underground resource base, as demonstrated by the year-over-year increase in the inferred grade, which went from 3.6 g/t to 4.5 g/t. While the primary additions were in the LP zone, resources at Hinge and Limb, traditional Red Lake style deposits proximal to the LP zone, also increased. Further, high-grade intercepts below the resource at Hinge in 2023 demonstrated the potential for this mineralization to also continue at depth potentially supplementing LP zone production in the future. 

Since the last update on November 8, 2023, the Company has received additional assay results, with a selection of the new results highlighted below. Recent results highlighted in this release were received after the 2023 resource database cut-off and have not been used to inform year end resource figures.

 

Notable exploration results at Great Bear in the fourth quarter include:

• BR-807 (Discovery) 2.7m @ 9.7 g/t Au at a vertical depth of 880m
• BR-814C6 (Yauro) 6.6m @ 8.4 g/t Au at a vertical depth of 750m 
  • Including 2.3m @ 23.3 g/t Au
• BR-819 (Auro) 8.9m @ 13.9 g/t Au at a vertical depth of 700m 
  • Including 2.3m @ 51.5 g/t Au
• BR-843AC1A (Yuma) 15.4m @ 89.1 g/t Au at a vertical depth of 900m 
  • Including 3.5m @ 389.6 g/t Au
• BR-890 (Discovery) 1.6m @ 18.8 g/t Au at a vertical depth of 1070m

These results continue to support the view of a high-grade, large, long-life mining complex at Great Bear. Hole BR-843AC1A has intersected 3.5m @ 389.6 g/t at 900m vertical depth at Yuma and is expected to further increase the grade of already high-grade resource stopes in that area. Holes BR-814C6 and BR-819 demonstrate the continuity of wide, high-grade mineralization below the current resource at Yauro and Auro respectively. To the northwest, holes BR-807 and BR-890A have intersected high-grade mineralization at depths of 880m and 1070m respectively, vertically below surface which highlights the highly prospective undertested area beneath Discovery.

Kinross is progressing provincial permitting, engineering, and execution planning activities for an advanced exploration (AEX) program that would establish an underground decline to obtain a bulk sample and allow for definition and infill drilling in the LP zone. The mining lease for the main AEX surface footprint has now been received, providing Kinross with the necessary surface and mining rights to develop the AEX project, subject to obtaining the required provincial permits.

Detailed engineering for AEX infrastructure is well underway, and orders have been placed for the onsite camp and high-quality water treatment facility. Procurement activities for additional infrastructure and site construction activities are progressing well.

Kinross is targeting a start of the surface construction for the AEX program in the second half of 2024, subject to receipt of permits, with start of the underground decline planned in mid-2025.

For the main project, Kinross continues to advance technical studies, including engineering and field test work campaigns, with plans to release the results of this work in the form of a preliminary economic assessment in the second half of 2024.

The required Federal Impact Assessment for the main project is underway. The Initial Project Description has been submitted to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, formally kicking off the federal assessment process. The Detailed Project Description is expected to be formally submitted in Q1 2024. Studies are ongoing and the Company expects to file its Impact Statement in the first half of 2025.

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