United Waters of Espalha Creek

In August 2009, Kinross’ Paracatu operation launched the Espalha Creek Águas que Unem (United Waters) project, a joint initiative with local farmers, governments and universities focused on Espalha Creek in the region of Paracatu. The project aims to promote environmental preservation and improve the hydrologic characteristics of the creek, which 16 local families depend on to supply water for agricultural activities and cattle farming.

Espalha Creek is the most significant tributary to Rico Creek, contributing 80% of the water flowing into Rico Creek, a vital water resource for the city of Paracatu. Since 2007, Kinross has been leading the $2.5 million Rico Creek rehabilitation program, stabilizing shorelines, re-establishing riverside vegetation and sponsoring the development of adjacent public parklands with playgrounds and sports facilities. Our contributions to improving Espalha Creek’s water flow will help enhance environmental conditions along Rico Creek and throughout Paracatu.

The Espalha Creek project is re-establishing the forest areas alongside the creek, constructing 500 small dikes to slow stream flow and creating contours in the land to reduce erosion and increase underground flow. Together, these improved land husbandry initiatives will reduce the rate of runoff and prevent soil erosion.

Education programs with the local farmers aim to embed these management practices so that they can maintain the revived springs feeding the creek. Monitoring devices have been installed and a local Kinross Paracatu employee measures creek flow monthly.

These watershed improvements will more than offset the relatively small impact of our Paracatu mine on the upper reaches of Rico Creek. The Paracatu site has invested around $250,000 in this project.

Managing Cynanide in Russia

In December 2009, Kinross’ Kupol mine was certified under the International Cyanide Management Code, the first mine in Russia to obtain this certification.

Kupol’s transportation group was also certified as fully compliant with the Cyanide Code in November, making it the first mine-operated transportation group in the world to be certified. This certification covers the storage and transportation of cyanide from the Port of Pevek facilities to Kupol by way of a 430-kilometre ice road that is built annually to transport supplies to the Kupol site.

Kinross' Kupol certification demonstrates not only its compliance with Russia’s extremely stringent regulatory requirements for the use and transportation of cyanide, but confirmation of its management systems and on-the-ground performance, which include regular training and drills for our cyanide response team.

The Governor of Chukotka applauded Kinross’ leadership in protecting the pristine environment of this northeastern region: “There are a lot of examples when subsoil users, in their pursuit for revenues have caused irrecoverable harm to the environment, especially in regions with untouched nature, such as Chukotka. It is especially pleasant to note that Kinross Gold, apart from gaining profit, is focused on investing in industrial safety. Certification under the International Code is the best acknowledgment of such efforts.”

Our hope is that certification of the Kupol operation will raise the profile of the Cyanide Code in Russia and encourage other companies in the Federation to become signatories.

DeLamar Reclamation Award

In October 2009, Kinross was presented with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Hardrock Mineral Environmental Award for its reclamation work at the former DeLamar mine site in southwestern Idaho. This award acknowledges operators with an exceptional track record of meeting or exceeding reclamation requirements.

When operations were suspended in 1998, the DeLamar mine had over seven million cubic metres of water stored in the tailings pond, and almost 170 hectares of disturbed area that generated acid rock drainage. Through a combination of water treatment, pit backfilling, cover placement and other reclamation, today all of the water at DeLamar has been effectively treated and returned to the ecosystem, primarily through a land application process that enhances wildlife habitats and livestock grazing areas on private lands.

A significant amount of work has gone into water management, specifically through the use of an engineered clay cover that is placed over reactive soils so that new rainwater won’t penetrate the soil and, instead, can be released as clean storm water back into the environment.

The reclamation is expected to be completed in 2012, with water treatment and monitoring continuing for several years beyond that date.

Protecting Biodiversity in Ecuador

Kinross’ Fruta del Norte project is located in the Ecuadorian Amazon Region of the province of Zamora-Chinchipe, along the Ecuadorian-Peruvian border.

Ecuador is home to one of the world’s most diverse populations of animals and plants per square kilometre, and protecting biodiversity in the region is a vitally important element of Kinross’ environmental management system, which guides the project’s exploration and development.

In partnership with the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and experts from local universities and NGOs, we are gathering baseline information in the 3,700-hectare El Zarza Wildlife Refuge, located less than five kilometres southwest from Fruta del Norte, which is part of a network of protected areas established by the government of Ecuador in the Cordillera del Cóndor, the mountain range along the Ecuadorian-Peruvian border. The MOE will build on the studies to develop an environmental management plan for the refuge.

Through our network of consultants, we are working with the Missouri Botanical Garden, a St. Louis-based conservation institution that has been cataloguing Ecuador’s abundant plant life for more than two decades. Since 2008, researchers from the institute have discovered several new species of flora on several of our mining concessions.

In 2009, we initiated a monitoring study with Simbioie Foundation, an Ecuadorian research group that conducts biodiversity studies, to determine how informal mining activities are impacting local fish populations, using state-of-the-art measurement techniques. Our goal is to use the information gathered from these studies to measure and minimize the future impact of our operations.