GOLD: Kinross goes forward with $1B Tasiast, Round Mountain expansions

TORONTO – Kinross Gold is proceeding with not one, but two major expansions. One is the $590-million (all U.S. dollars) expansion phase two of the Tasiast mill in Mauritania, and the other is the $445-million phase W mining expansion at Round Mountain in Nevada. [caption id="attachment_1003720057" align="alignright" width="334"] A Cat truck in the Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania. (Credit: Kinross Gold)[/caption] Kinross says the changes at Tasiast will transform it into a world-class mine with low costs and a long mine life (to 2029). Production is to reach commercial levels in Q3 2020. All-in sustaining costs are estimated at $560 per oz. When the second phase of expansion is complete, the Tasiast mill will have average annual production of 812,000 oz. of gold from 2020 to 2024. Meanwhile, phase one of the Tasiast mill expansion is well on the way to expanding throughput to 12,000 t/d from 8,000 t/d with the installation of a 12-metre SAG mill. Phase two will take throughput up to 30,000 t/d with a new 8.25-metre ball mill and additions to leaching, thickening and refining capacity as well as to the mining fleet. At Round Mountain phase W targets a large zone of mineralization at depth and to the west of the current open pit. Recently, the company upgraded 2 million oz. of gold in situ to proven and probable reserves. Preproduction capital spending will be $230 million followed by $215 million of capitalized stripping. Construction of a new heap leach, CIC plant and relation of infrastructure is expected to completed by Q2 2109. Average annual production from 2018 to 2024 will be 341,000 oz. of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of $905 per gold equivalent oz. Interested readers are directed to the Sept. 18, 2017, corporate presentation about the projects. It is posted at www.Kinross.com.