Kinross approves three US mine projects set to add about 3 million ounces from 2028

Kinross Gold has approved construction of three US projects, and together they reshape the company's growth profile from 2028. In an interview with Jimmy Connor, Kinross executive Andrea Freeborough said the company is moving ahead with Phase X at Round Mountain in Nevada, Curlew at Kettle River in Washington State, and Redbird 2 at Bald Mountain in Nevada, on the back of positive exploration results and, in her words, robust studies.

The three projects add about 3 million ounces of production in total, extend mine lives at the Nevada assets well into the 2030s, and benefit the company's US cost structure for the long term, according to Freeborough. First contributions arrive in 2028, with combined output of up to 400,000 ounces in the peak years on top of Kinross's 2-million-ounce annual guidance for 2025 through 2027.

## Project economics, as presented

Freeborough quoted all project metrics at $4,300 per ounce of gold, a price she described as conservative relative to spot. The combined figures: an AISC (All-In Sustaining Cost — what it really costs to produce an ounce once operating and sustaining spending are included) of $1,650 per ounce, payback in under two years, a combined NPV (net present value) of $4.1 billion, and an IRR (internal rate of return) of 55%. She said the projects hold up at a range of gold prices and would still make sense well below where gold trades today.

## Phase X at Round Mountain (Nevada)

Freeborough cast Phase X and Curlew as the next steps in the grade-enhancement strategy Kinross says it began in 2022. Phase X adds low-cost, bulk-tonnage underground mining to an existing open-pit operation: from 2028, Kinross will blend underground material from Phase X with open-pit ore from Phase S, which it mines today. As currently defined, the underground runs to 2038 at an average of about 140,000 ounces per year, tapping higher-grade mineralization that helps costs. Initial capex (capital spending) is $400 million, spread across roughly 2026 to 2028.

## Curlew at Kettle River (Washington State)

Curlew restarts idle infrastructure: the Kettle River mill, on care and maintenance since 2017, and the historic Curlew mine. Freeborough described a high-grade underground project producing about 100,000 ounces per year over an 11-year mine life, also starting in 2028. Initial capex is $485 million, with an NPV of $1.2 billion and an IRR of 44% at $4,300 gold. Building on existing mills at Round Mountain and Kettle River is a key reason capex stays contained, she said.

## Redbird 2 at Bald Mountain (Nevada)

Redbird 2 extends the Redbird 1 pit, approved in late 2024, and adds five satellite deposits. The package extends open-pit mining out to 2032 and adds 640,000 ounces to the Bald Mountain mine plan. Capex is $490 million, with an NPV of $1 billion, an IRR of 58%, and an AISC of $1,465 per ounce — the lowest-cost piece of the trio. Bald Mountain is a long-running open-pit heap leach operation, where ore is stacked and treated with solution to recover gold. Freeborough also pointed to upside beyond the published plans at all three projects, noting that extra ounces at Curlew and Phase X would come at low incremental cost because the initial spending already covers the defined inventory.

## The anchor mines: steady, with a planned dip at Tasiast

Paracatu in Brazil produced 528,000 ounces in 2024 and has topped 500,000 ounces for seven straight years, Freeborough said, with reserves of almost 5 million ounces and a mine life into the 2030s. She cited 3.2 million ounces of M&I (Measured and Indicated — resources defined well enough to support mine planning) resources as potential mine-life extension, particularly at higher gold prices.

Tasiast in Mauritania is the larger producer at 622,000 ounces in 2024. Output steps down to around 500,000 ounces for 2025 through 2027 as the mine works through higher stripping years — moving waste rock to reach deeper ore — then returns above 600,000 ounces in 2028 and 2029 from the West Branch 5 area. From 2030 the current plan steps back to 500,000 ounces and declines thereafter. Freeborough said Kinross is studying open-pit expansions and the potential to go underground at the main pit, alongside exploration elsewhere on the property.

## Great Bear and Lobo Marte

Great Bear in northern Ontario joins the production profile in late 2029. A study published last year outlined 500,000 ounces per year at an AISC of $800 per ounce, which she said would make it a highly profitable mine at current prices. Kinross is waiting on two final permits to dig an advanced exploration decline and keep drilling underground, expected early this year ahead of the spring season. Lobo Marte in Chile is the next greenfield project behind it.

## Balance sheet and shareholder returns

Freeborough framed capital allocation around three priorities: reinvesting in the business, keeping the balance sheet strong, and returning capital to shareholders. Kinross reached a net cash position in November and expects roughly $1 billion of net cash when it reports year-end 2025; the next debt maturity is not until 2033. The dividend rose 17% in November, and the company completed its $600 million buyback target by the end of 2025, bringing total 2025 shareholder returns to about $750 million alongside roughly $700 million of debt repayment. Capital expenditure guidance for 2026 is $1.5 billion, up from about $1.15 billion guided for 2025, which she said the company can fund from operating cash flow.

## What to watch

The February year-end results and 2026 guidance will carry updated capital allocation comments, project milestones, and a decision on the Great Bear exploration decline. For investors, 2028 is the key test: that is when all three newly approved projects need to start converting balance-sheet strength into ounces.