La Coipa (100% ownership and operator) - Chile

The La Coipa mine is located in the Atacama Region of northern Chile, approximately 1,000 kilometers north of Santiago and 140 kilometers northwest of the community of Copiapó, Chile. Kinross acquired its ownership interest in the La Coipa open pit mine upon completion of the combination with TVX on January 31, 2003. On December 21, 2007, Kinross completed the purchase of the remaining 50% from Goldcorp Inc. and became the operator.

• La Coipa Technical Report (PDF)

The earliest written information about La Coipa as a precious metal prospect dates back almost a century, when a small underground copper-silver mine was in operation about 2 kilometers southeast of the present day operations. Regional resources have been sporadically exploited since then, but the La Coipa area itself did not receive any attention from exploration geologists until the late 1970s.

The overall operation consists of five deposits known as Ladera-Farellon, Coipa Norte, Brecha Norte, Can-Can and Puren. Coipa Norte and Brecha Norte are currently being mined by open pit methods, and exploitation at Puren began in 2005, with Can-Can to follow in 2007. Mining of the Brecha Norte ore body began in 2003 and will be completed in 2006.

The La Coipa open pit mine and its 15,000 tonne per day mill began operation in October 1991. A new crushing system was installed in October 1999, increasing throughput to 17,000 tonnes per day. Conventional open pit mining methods and equipment are used to mine all ore and waste. Benches are laid out at 10 meter intervals, allowing for the existence of berms every two benches. The overall wall slopes vary from 45 degrees to 52 degrees. Mining is carried out with one hydraulic shovel, front-end loaders, diesel rotary drills, and 154-tonne trucks.

The Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves are sufficient for four years of production. The mine is scheduled to cease production in 2010 if additional reserves are not found; however, Kinross believes there is significant potential for additional reserves and resources near the present mine site.

Kinross Gold Corporation’s Share at December 31, 2007