QuestCap Provides COVID-19 Testing Kits to Kinross Gold TORONTO, Jan. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QuestCap Inc. (“QuestCap”) (NEO:QSC; OTC:COPRF; FRA:34C1) is pleased to announce the completion of an agreement to supply state-of-the-art COVID-19 testing equipment and custom protocols to JSC Chukotka Mining and Geological Company (“CMGC”), a subsidiary of Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC; TSX: K). The equipment supplied included COVID-19 RT-PCR tests and antibody tests and analyzers that are expected to help test employees at Kinross’ Kupol and Dvoinoye mines in the Chukotka region, its Udinsk project in the Khabarovsk region and at its Russian offices in Magadan and Moscow. The total contract value for the tests and associated protocols is US$2.1 million.
“We are very excited to be able to partner with a global mining company like Kinross Gold and help them continue operating in a COVID-19 environment,” commented Doug Sommerville, QuestCap CEO. “We know the importance of safety in the mining industry and are proud to help extend that culture of safety with state of the art protocols and QuestCap’s high-quality testing solutions. We look forward to extending this to other businesses that require our complete COVID-19 testing solution.”
Specifically, QuestCap supplied CMGC with 15 portable RT PCR analyzers, 57,000 RT-PCR tests, and 10,000 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) IgM/IgG Rapid Antibody tests. Equipment training has been conducted with CMGC employees in Russia with the testing protocols now being implemented. The testing protocols are expected to test workers for COVID-19 throughout their work rotations to help prevent the spread of the virus at the mine and project sites.
“The safety of our workers is of paramount importance,” says Claude Schimper, Senior Vice President of Operations, Russia for Kinross Gold. “By continuing to implement strict COVID-19 safety measures and testing protocols, including using the tests supplied by QuestCap and working with QuestCap’s medical team, we are prioritizing our workers’ health and safety while maintaining the operation of Kinross’ Russian business.”
The protocols were developed jointly by medical experts and QuestCap advisors, Dr. Glenn Copeland, Founding CEO of the Cleveland Clinic Canada, and Dr. Lawrence Steinman, Stanford University Professor and former Chair of the Standford Program in Immunology.