Kinross Gold Corp. July 27 reported that its Fort Knox Mine produced 77,184 ounces of gold during the second quarter of 2022, which is the highest quarterly gold production at the Interior Alaska operation in four years.

The company attributed the strong quarterly gold output to a combination of higher-grade ore being fed into the mill, increased mill throughput, and more gold recovered from the heap leach pads.

During the second quarter, the Kinross Alaska mill at Fort Knox processed 2.26 million metric tons of ore averaging 0.72 grams per metric ton gold, compared to 1.85 million metric tons averaging 0.66 g/t gold processed during the previous quarter.

During the quarter, crews also stacked 12.8 million metric tons of ore averaging 0.19 g/t gold on the Barnes Creek heap leach pad at Fort Knox, which is similar to the 13 million metric tons averaging 0.17 g/t gold during the first three months of this year. The 12.9 million metric ton average of ore stacked on the heap leach pad this year is roughly 60% higher than the 8.1-million-metric-ton quarterly average stacked on heap leach pads during 2021, which is expected to equate to increased gold from the heap leach this year.

The per-ounce cost of Fort Knox gold sold during the second quarter of this year was US$1,196, a 7% drop from the US$1,276/oz production cost of sales during the previous quarter but a 10% increase when compared to the $1,089/oz cost during second quarter of 2021.

Kinross said the drop from the first quarter is primarily a result of more gold being sold, and the annual cost increase is mainly due to inflationary pressure on consumables.

The company, however, expects gold production to increase and costs per oz of gold produced to drop significantly when high-grade ore from the Manh Choh Mine begins to be processed through the Kinross Alaska mill.

In conjunction with its second quarter financial release, Kinross published the results of the Manh Choh feasibility study and officially announced its intention to move forward with development of the project about 250 miles southeast of Fort Knox.

Once the high-grade ore from Manh Choh begins being processed through the Kinross Alaska mill, which is slated for the second half of 2024, the average production cost at Fort Knox is expected to drop to $950 per gold-equivalent oz.

Kinross Gold Corp.

The mill at Fort Knox processed 2.26 million metric tons of ore averaging 0.19 g/t gold during the second quarter.

Further details from Kinross' Manh Choh feasibility study can be read at Kinross greenlights Manh Choh gold mine in the current edition of North of 60 Mining News.

CORRECTION: First ore from Manh Choh is slated for delivery to the Kinross Alaska mill during the second half of 2024. The previous version incorrectly stated 2022.

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