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FORT KNOX GOLD MINE


Fort Knox is a centre of excellence for the Company as one of the few cold weather heap leach facilities in the world. In 2019, the site poured its eighth millionth ounce of gold, more than 20 years into its mine life.

Fort Knox is an open-pit gold mine located near the city of Fairbanks, Alaska. It is mined by conventional open-pit methods, with ore processed at a mill and heap leach facility.

The mill has a capacity of up to 45,000 tonnes per day, with large volumes of lower grade ore and mineralized waste materials processed in the heap leach.

Production from the heap leach began in late 2009, which increased mine life and helped lower costs.

In October 2019, Fort Knox’s excellent safety performance was recognized by the U.S. National Mining Association as the mine received the prestigious Sentinels of Safety Award in the Large Metal Mine group for achieving 1.5 million hours without a Lost Time Injury.

Gilmore project

The Company completed construction of the Gilmore project on schedule and under budget, with the first gold ounces from the new Barnes Creek heap leach pad poured in January 2021.

With additional upside potential beyond the Gilmore project, Kinross will continue to explore the prospectivity of the Fort Knox area.

For more information, see our Alaska Projects page here.

Manh Choh project

In September 2020, Kinross acquired 70% of the Manh Choh project (formerly the Peak project) in Alaska.

Located approximately 400 kilometres southeast Fort Knox, Manh Choh is expected to commence production in 2024 as a low-cost, open pit mine. Kinross plans to process Manh Choh ore at Fort Knox utilizing the existing mill and infrastructure to benefit both the project and the mine.