Good Read and "NO DILUTION INVOLVED' GRRRRRR
KINROSS DISCOVERS GOING UNDERGROUND IS GOOD "Going underground," usually implies doing something bad. In the case of Kinross and its Buckhorn ore deposit in Washington, it means something good. Going underground has made it easier to mine for gold in the State of Washington, one of the most environmentally conscious states in the US. Despite a measure of hostility by bureaucrats and environmentalists, mining hasn't disappeared from the Northwest. There is no better example than the Kettle River - Buckhorn gold operation and its owners Kinross Gold Corporation. It won the Northwest Mining Association's Platinum Award for Corporate Excellence, for Leadership in Designing and Permitting a Mine that has Minimal Impact on the Surrounding Environment. This is all the result of going underground. Buckhorn would have probably been impracticable if it hadn't been for a change in attitudes towards mining both at the state and federal level during the Bush Administration. The Buckhorn Mountain project had been written off earlier by Battle Mountain due to environmental opposition. However, by going underground, its new owner Kinross reached a compromise with environmentalists and regulators. The Kinross properties are located in Ferry County in the State of Washington. The properties cover approximately 3,075 hectares through patented and unpatented mining claims and fee lands. Kinross acquired Kettle River through its acquisition of Echo Bay on January 31, 2003. At the time, the mine was undergoing care and maintenance. Kinross resumed operations on the Emanuel Creek deposit in December 2003, Kinross is one of the largest primary gold producers in the world, with a 2012 production of nearly 2.6 million ounces. It is a Canadian firm with an excellent reputation for social responsibility. It has 59.6 million ounces of gold in proven and probable reserves around the world. Kettle River is unusual in that it doesn't have a major mineral deposit and large reserves to work with. Since opening up in 1990, Kettle River has mined eight ore deposits that, on average, have only lasted two to three years each. The small elusive deposits that Kettle River depends on aren't unusual for the area. Over one hundred years ago, John Welty spent a whole summer prospecting along one creek in vain. When the winter came and snow covered the ground, he got a job in town and gave up prospecting. However, gold fever struck again and he was soon back searching the same creek bed that had disappointed him a few months earlier. This time, he made a discovery and within a few months, the boomtown of Republic was founded. The Kettle River operation is just couple of miles from the small town. LONG TERM PROSPECTS The nature of the Kettle River deposits has effected operations at the mine. While other mines can make long term plans with large deposits, Kettle River must operate with several ore deposits and declining ore grades. When one is exhausted, another one is brought on line. This means always looking for new deposits, and over the years, Kettle River geologists have gone as far afield as Canada to find promising gold deposits to feed the Kettle River mills. There is a price for running out of ore deposits. In the early 1990s, the operation had to cut its workforce as the first two deposits; the Kettle and Overlook ran out of gold at the same time as gold prices fell. In order to keep its $54 million mill operating, the company opened up two small ore deposits called the Key East and Key West. These ran out in 1994, but they provided a bridge to a larger and more profitable ore deposit called the Lamefoot. The current operations center on the Buckhorn deposit, which is the eighth discovery in the history of the operation. In 2006, Kinross acquired the Buckhorn gold deposit, located approximately 76 kilometers by road from Kinross' Kettle River gold milling facility. Originally conceived as an open pit mine, Buckhorn was redesigned and developed as an underground mine, and the Kettle River mill was refurbished to process the ore. The ore is mined from three horizontal adits. The primary mining method employed is cut and fill, with a target production rate of 900 tons per day.The Buckhorn mine ore is trucked 75 kilometers to the Kettle River Mill, which has a 1,800 ton per day capacity. The Buckhorn mine began production in October 2008. In 2012, it produced 156,092 ounces of gold. Of course, the future depends on continuing exploration. Kinross is looking at deeper deposits at Buckhorn and a mineralized skarn unit underneath the SWZ orebody. Although the Pacific Northwest remains a tough mining regulation environment, the success of Buckhorn Mountain proves that mining hasn't died there. Mining companies with good environmental records will find that opportunities will remain there if they persevere.