Kinross Commissions Knelson at Kupol

Chukotka Region - Russia Federation; Kinross recently announced that the Kupol mine had produced its first ounce of gold on May 30, 2008 making it the latest operation in a growing list of new Russian operations that have installed a state-of-the-art Knelson based gravity circuit.

Commissioning of the Knelson KC-XD30 unit was completed by Dmitriy Babkin; Knelson Commissioning Engineer based in Irkutsk.

“The commissioning of the KC-XD30 went very smoothly and I would like to thank all of the Kupol staff who provided their support and assistance” stated Babkin upon his return from site.

“It was a very satisfying experience especially when we saw the extremely fine gold that was produced by the concentrates from the Knelson” added Babkin.

The Kupol mine consists of a high-grade gold and silver vein structure that will be mined by both open pit and underground mining methods. Kinross acquired the Kupol project in Far Eastern Russia in February 2007 through the acquisition of Bema Gold. The mine is located in the Chukotka region, approximately 220 kilometres southeast of the town of Bilibino, the nearest major city.

Based on the current ramp-up schedule, the milling rate is expected to reach 1,500 tonnes per day in May and to attain full production capacity of 3,000 tonnes per day in October 2008. Kinross’ share of production in 2008 is expected to be approximately 365,000 – 390,000 gold equivalent ounces at an expected average cost of $235 – 245/oz for the year.