Published: March 20, 2026 | Share This

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Kinross Gold said it is proceeding with the construction of three organic growth projects: the Round Mountain Phase X and Bald Mountain Redbird 2 Projects in Nevada, and the Kettle River-Curlew Project in Washington. These projects are expected to meaningfully extend mine life and will benefit long-term costs within Kinross’ United States portfolio.

“We are excited to be moving ahead with Round Mountain Phase X, Curlew, and Bald Mountain Redbird 2. These three new growth projects are expected to contribute three million ounces of life-of-mine production to our portfolio, extend mine lives at our Nevada assets well into the 2030s, and benefit our long-term costs in the U.S.,” said J. Paul Rollinson, CEO.

“Higher-grade underground mining at Round Mountain Phase X and Kettle River-Curlew reflect the next phase of our grade enhancement strategy that we initiated in 2022. The transition to underground mining at Round Mountain is anticipated to initially extend mine life to 2038. Curlew is a high-grade restart opportunity in Washington, leveraging our existing Kettle River mill infrastructure, with an initial 11-year mine life. Drilling at both assets has already shown wide, high-grade intercepts outside of the initial resource that demonstrate the upside potential for further resource and mine life additions, which will continue to be a focus of our exploration,” added Rollinson.

“Bald Mountain Redbird 2 is expected to deliver high-productivity, low-cost production as the next anchor pit alongside five satellite pits. They are designed to add approximately 155,000 gold ounces of annual production, initially extending Bald Mountain’s mine life to 2032, with further upside potential within the extensive land package,” said Rollinson.

“By funding these projects with cash flow from our operations, we are reinvesting in our business to generate additional value in internal projects underpinned by a low-cost structure and excellent economics. As we look forward, these new projects are well timed and are expected to start contributing in 2028, coinciding with getting back to higher-grade mining at Tasiast. We look forward to unlocking their full potential as we continue delivering value for our shareholders, communities and employees,” concluded Rollinson.

ROUND MOUNTAIN PHASE X

The Phase X project is a bulk tonnage underground mining opportunity below the current phase W open pit at Round Mountain, targeting higher-grade, lower-cost mining of the same mineralization at depth as part of the company’s grade optimization strategy to offset inflation and increase future margins at the site.

Phase X underground will benefit from the strong existing infrastructure at site and will be processed through the existing mill in parallel with remaining open pit mineralization and stockpiles.

• Mine and Processing Plan

The Phase X project is planned as a bulk tonnage underground operation, with first production expected in 2028. Mining costs and AISC are expected to benefit from the wide, consistent nature of the deposit, with an average width of 120 meters. The primary mining method is transverse long-hole open stoping with paste backfill following a bottom-up mining sequence.

The mining cost and efficiency will also benefit from three underground accesses, including two declines that are already in place and a third decline planned for 2028 to enhance both ventilation and haulage routes. The mine plan includes an investment in early development of infrastructure for both the upper and lower zones to allow mining of both zones concurrently, increasing the production rate and overall efficiency of mining.

The underground mineralization from Phase X will be processed through the existing milling facility at Round Mountain, blending the higher-grade underground mineralization with lower grade open pit production from Phase S and with low grade stockpile from historic open pit mining thereafter.

The Phase X mine plan inventory has the same geometallurgy as what has been mined historically at Round Mountain, and is expected to have an average recovery of 88 percent based on a robust metallurgical test work program, extensive history of processing this mineralization and a bulk sample of the underground deposit in 2025 that demonstrated positive grade reconciliation.

• Capital Expenditures and Permitting

The initial project capital costs are expected to be approximately $400 million to be spent over four years, primarily related to underground development, procurement of mining equipment, and construction of underground infrastructure. The study results indicated that the capital for the transition to underground is significantly lower per ounce compared with expected capital expenditures for further extensions of the open pit.

The infrastructure has been designed to support a long-life, highly productive underground mine with increased investment to drive higher production rates and economies of scale, including optimization such as the development of both the upper and lower zones concurrently and the addition of a third portal.

The initial capital also includes use of a mining contractor for the majority of the capital development in 2026, 2027, and 2028, which is intended to de-risk the critical path to first production in 2028 and provides a two-year time frame to ramp up internal labor resources for self-perform underground mining.

Development of the underground headings and infrastructure is already well underway, benefiting from the six km of underground development and dual declines completed as part of the exploration program.

The project’s execution timeline is significantly de-risked with federal permits for underground mining. Kinross expects to receive a minor federal modification to increase the mining rate and finalize the state mining authorization for Phase X in Q1 2026, marking the completion of all major operational permitting.

BALD MOUNTAIN REDBIRD 2

The Redbird 2 project consists of phase 2 of the Redbird pit along with five additional satellite pits that combined are expected to incrementally produce a total of approximately 640,000 Au oz., with first production in 2028 and an average production of approximately 155,000 oz. Au per year between 2028-2031, extending production at Bald Mountain until early 2032. The project leverages the existing infrastructure, equipment, and workforce at Bald Mountain, continuing the long history of successful open pit heap leach operations on the extensive land package.

The approval of Redbird 2 builds on the Q4 2024 decision to proceed with mining of phase 1 at Redbird and the associated conversion of approximately one million resource ounces to reserves.

Mine Plan and Processing

The mine plan centers on laybacks of previously mined pits, with Redbird 2 planned to be the next anchor pit and five satellite pits — Poker, Casino, Bida, Galaxy, and Saga — complimenting Redbird’s output and improving the production profile.

The strategy of mining both an anchor pit at Redbird and concurrent satellite pits is aligned with the historic mining strategy at Bald Mountain, and provides significant economies of scale to support high-margin production at the operation.

The location of the Redbird pit, close to the existing Bald Mountain heap leach, truck shop, and administrative facilities, also drives efficient operations and lower costs for the project.

Processing of Redbird 2 will take place on the Bald Mountain heap leach pad, and processing for the satellite pits will take place on the Mooney heap leach pad. The heap leach pads will be expanded to accommodate the additional mine plan inventory from this project.

Capital Expenditures and Permitting

The initial project capital costs for the Bald Mountain Redbird 2 project are expected to be $490 million to be spent over three years, primarily related to waste stripping for the open pit mines, expansion of leach pads to accommodate the additional mine plan inventory, and process infrastructure enhancements including the installation of a sulphidization, acidification, recycling, and thickening (SART) plant.

Initial capital was increased through the Redbird 2 study phase with the addition of the SART plant, addition of the satellite pits, and additions to the mining fleet. The SART plant will add flexibility to process higher copper mineralization, lowering operating costs, increasing life-of-mine production, and de-risking recovery. The addition of the satellite pits and additional mining fleet is expected to improve the annual production profile by providing more concurrent mining and increasing the economies of scale at the site.

KETTLE RIVER-CURLEW PROJECT

The Curlew project is a high grade, underground gold mine located ~40 km northwest of the company’s 100 percent owned Kettle River mill and tailings facilities. Kinross has a long history of production in the region and significant infrastructure in place. The company expects Curlew to produce approximately 940,000 Au oz. over an initial 11 year mine life from 2028 to 2038.

• Mine Plan

Curlew is planned as a high grade underground operation, with first production expected in 2028. The mining methods will include both longitudinal and transverse long hole open stoping with cemented and uncemented rockfill following a bottom-up mining sequence.

The project leverages the existing portal and underground infrastructure from the historic K2 mine, which will be extended to support mining of the current Curlew deposit.

The mine plan will target the widest, highest-grade mineralization first driving the higher expected average gold production of approximately 100,000 Au oz. per annum for the first five full years. 

Existing drilling outside of the current resource shows potential to expand with higher-grade, wider mineralization, which would be prioritized ahead of the lowest-grade mineralization in the current mine plan inventory.

• Mill, Processing, and Tailings Design

Mineralization from the Curlew mine is planned to be processed through the existing 1,800 tpd Kettle River mill. The mill includes conventional crushing, grinding, and carbon-in-leach (CIL) gold recovery, and will be refurbished as part of the restart project.

A new tailings dewatering plant will also be installed at the existing tailings management facility to convert from conventional to dry stack tailings.

• Capital Expenditures and Permitting

The initial project capital costs for the Curlew project are expected to be approximately $485 million to be spent over three years, primarily related to underground development, procurement of mining equipment, refurbishment of the mill, and the addition of the tailings dewatering plant.

The initial capital for the Kettle River mill restart is focused on supporting reliable long-term operations through a fulsome refurbishment given the long initial mine life, the age of the mill, and the potential for further mine life expansion beyond 2038.

Learnings from previous mill restart projects, such as La Coipa, have been incorporated into Kinross’ estimates and additional capital has been added through recent study phases to replace processing equipment including crushers, mills, pumps, cyclones, and feeders.

The initial capital also includes additional costs for the use of a mining contractor for the initial capital development to de-risk the critical path to first production and provide more time to ramp up internal resources.

The site construction program is well advanced and critical early works are complete. The company is on track to award major contracts for mining and construction in early 2026, and is advancing the hiring of key roles for project execution and operations.

All significant permits for mining and processing activities have been received with the exception of one state-level permit related to the tailings height increase, which is expected to be received in 2026.

Kinross Gold is a Canadian-based global senior gold mining company with operations and projects in the United States, Brazil, Mauritania, Chile, and Canada. Its focus is on delivering value based on the core principles of responsible mining, operational excellence, disciplined growth, and balance sheet strength.

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