Kinross Gold Corporation has un-veiled plans to invest some $100 million in the expansion of its Fort Knox mine in Alaska.
The project is expected “to extend mining at Fort Knox by six years to 2027, and leaching to 2030 … and increase life-of-mine production by approximately 1.5 million Au eq. oz.,” the company said in a state-ment.
“We are pleased to proceed with the initial Fort Knox Gilmore project, a low-risk, low-cost brownfield expansion that is expected to extend mine life to 2030 at one of our top performing operations and contrib-ute 1.5 million gold equivalent ounces to strengthen our long-term U.S. production profile,” said J. Paul Rollinson, the company’s presi-dent and CEO.
The project is expected to generate an internal rate of return (IRR) of 17% and net present value (NPV) of $130 million based on a $1,200/oz. gold price, according to the firm.