Round Mountain (50% ownership and operator) -
USA
Kinross acquired its 50% ownership interest
in the Round Mountain open pit mine and became the operator upon
completion of the combination with Echo Bay on January 31, 2003.
An affiliate of Barrick Gold Corporation owns the remaining 50%
interest in the joint venture known as the Smoky Valley Common
Operation.
The Round Mountain gold mine through its
acquisition of Echo Bay Mines in is an open pit mining operation
located 96 kilometers north of Tonopah in Nye County, Nevada,
and is supported by the local communities of Hadley and Carvers,
which provide most of the housing for mine personnel.
The first gold production from the Round
Mountain District occurred in 1906 and in 2006 the mine reached
a milestone of 10 million ounces poured.
The Round Mountain mine currently operates a
conventional open pit that is approximately 2,500 meters long in
the north-west, south-east direction and 1,500 meters wide
(north-east to south-west). The mining is conducted on 10.7
meter benches by electric shovels and front end loaders paired
with 136,172 and 218 tonne haul trucks.
The Round Mountain operation uses
conventional open-pit mining methods and recovers gold using
four independent processing operations. These include crushed
ore leaching (reusable pad), run-of-mine ore leaching (dedicated
pad), milling and the gravity concentration circuit. Most of the
ore is heap leached, with higher grade oxidized ores crushed and
placed on the reusable pad. Lower grade ore, ore removed from
the reusable leach pad and stockpiled ore that was previously
leached are placed on the dedicated pad.
Exploration is focused on the underground
target and within the AMI (Area of Mutual Interest). The AMI is
a large area which includes the Round Mountain mine, where the
exploration is conducted mutually by Kinross and Barrick.
Round Mountain is currently in the process of
permitting the Gold Hill pit which is approximately 8.05
kilometers north of the existing operation. The joint venture
partners approved an expansion to the Round Mountain pit in late
2005 and mining activities were initiated in November 2005. The
expanded operations at Round Mountain have extended the mine’s
life through the year 2014.
Selected Production and Operating
Information
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Years ended December
31, |
|
Round Mountain (50%) |
|
2005 |
2004 |
2003(a) |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
Tonnes mined(b) |
000s |
29,002 |
35,820 |
39,824 |
|
Tonnes processed(b) |
000s |
61,696 |
67,065 |
52,636 |
|
Gold grade |
gpt |
0.64 |
0.55 |
0.61 |
|
Gold recovery(c) |
% |
|
|
|
|
Gold equivalent production |
ounces |
373,947 |
387,785 |
364,271 |
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|
|
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|
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|
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Revenue |
US$ MM |
164.0 |
154.1 |
131.9 |
|
Cost of sales |
US$ MM |
93.7 |
82.3 |
74.9 |
|
Accretion & reclamation expense |
US$ MM |
1.8 |
1.9 |
1.6 |
|
Depreciation, depletion &
amortization |
US$ MM |
39.5 |
43.3 |
45.0 |
|
Exploration |
US$ MM |
2.4 |
0.8 |
2.1 |
|
Impairment charge |
US$ MM |
0.0 |
0.0 |
89.9 |
|
Net earnings (loss) |
US$ MM |
26.6 |
25.8 |
-81.6 |
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Unit costs: |
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Per gold equivalent ounce produced |
US$/oz |
251 |
212 |
206 |
|
Per tonne milled |
US$/t |
1.52 |
1.23 |
1.42 |
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a)
2003 results are for the 11 months from February through
December only |
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b)
Tonnes mined/processed represent 100% of mine production |
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c)
Due to the nature of heap leach operations recovery
rates cannot be accurately measured on an |
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annual basis |
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Mineral Reserve and Resource Summary
Kinross Gold Corporation’s Share at December 31, 2005
|
|
Tonnes |
Grade |
Ounces |
|
|
( X
1,000) |
(g/t) |
( X
1,000) |
|
Proven and Probable Reserves |
125,012 |
0.58 |
2,338 |
|
Measured and Indicated Resources |
16,062 |
0.57 |
295 |
|
