Kinross Gold Corp. Aug. 2 reported that its Fort Knox Mine in Alaska produced 69,438 ounces of gold during the second quarter of 2023, which is a 6% increase over the 65,404 oz recovered during the first three months of this year but a 10% drop from the 77,184 oz produced during the second quarter of 2023.

The company attributes the quarterly increase to increased mill throughput and higher-grade ore. During the second quarter, 2.08 million metric tons of ore averaging 0.82 grams per metric ton gold was fed through the Kinross Alaska mill at Fort Knox. This is compared to 5.97 million metric tons averaging 0.78 g/t gold during the previous three-month period.

The grades of ore have been climbing over the past year, likely a reflection of higher-grade ore being mined from the Gil satellite deposit on the Fort Knox property.

The grades of the ore being stacked on the Barnes Creek heap leach pad at Fort Knox have also been climbing steadily over the past year. However, the tonnage stacked on the pad has dropped substantially since the start of 2023, which is a factor in the year-over-year decline in gold production at Fort Knox.

Crews stacked 6.84 million metric tons of ore on the heap leach pad during the second quarter, a little over half the 12.79 million metric tons during the same period of 2022. At 0.24 g/t gold, the 0.24 g/t material stacked on the pad during Q2 2023 is 26% higher grade than the 0.19 g/t ore placed on the heap leach pad during the June quarter of last year.

Through the six months of 2023, the Fort Knox Mine produced 134,825 oz of gold, which is about 2% higher than the 131,987 oz recovered during the first half of last year.

The per-ounce cost of Fort Knox gold sold during the first quarter of this year was US$1,146, which is the lowest production cost at the mine in over a year.

Manh Choh on target

Kinross also reports that its Manh Choh mine project in Alaska remains on budget and on schedule to begin gold production in the second half of 2024.

"Manh Choh is advancing on plan to come online in the second half of 2024 following the receipt of its key operating permits in May," said Kinross Gold President and CEO J. Paul Rollinson.

Being developed under a joint venture between Kinross (70%) and Contango ORE Inc. (30%), Manh Choh is a high-grade gold mine project about 250 highway miles southeast of Fort Knox.

A feasibility study completed in 2022 details plans for trucking high-grade ore mined at Manh Choh to Fort Knox for processing through the Kinross Alaska mill.

Over an initial 4.5 years of mining, Manh Choh is expected to produce roughly 1 million gold-equivalent oz, which includes the value of both the gold and silver recovered.

This operation is based on 3.9 million metric tons of proven and probable reserves averaging 7.88 grams per metric ton (998,000 oz) gold and 13.6 g/t (1.7 million oz) silver.

The grade of these reserves is an order of magnitude higher than the ore currently being fed into the Kinross Alaska mill. As a result, gold production at Fort Knox is expected to jump to 400,000 oz per year with the Manh Choh feedstock.

Kinross says that contracting and procurement activities are now complete for the Manh Choh mine, and modifications to prepare the Fort Knox Mill for the higher-grade ore are underway.

Contango ORE Inc.

Crews work on the roughly 18-mile road that connects the Peak Gold deposits at Manh Choh to the Alaska Highway.

To maximize the community benefits of Manh Choh, Kinross, Contango ORE, and the contractors that will carry out the mining and hauling of ore have put a high priority on hiring and training residents of local towns and villages, including long-term skills that will last after mining concludes.

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Shane Lasley, Publisher

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