Kinross Fourth Quarter The Strongest Production Of The Year

TORONTO - Kinross Gold Corporation reported that production ramped up quarter-after-quarter, with the strongest production and lowest costs of the year in the fourth quarter. As part of the Great Bear initial resource estimate, the Company has added 2.7 million Au oz. of measured and indicated mineral resources, and added 2.3 million ounces to its inferred mineral resource. Tasiast achieved record production in Q4 2022 at lower quarter-over-quarter costs with record grades. Paracatu achieved its second highest production quarter on record, driven by high grades and strong recoveries. La Coipa production and throughput increased substantially quarter-over-quarter.

In 2022, Kinross returned $455 million in capital to shareholders consisting of approximately $155 million in dividends and $300 million as part of its enhanced share buyback program. The Company expects to continue its dividend and share buyback programs in 2023 and 2024.

J. Paul Rollinson, President and CEO, said, “Reflecting on 2022, it was a challenging year with significant change. I am proud of our global team who came together to address the challenges we faced and am pleased to note that we finished each quarter stronger than the last. As we have exited from Russia and Ghana, and are developing our Great Bear project in Red Lake, Ontario, our portfolio is now more weighted in the Americas. We are excited about the Great Bear initial mineral resource estimate, which we announced earlier this week. We believe we have a world-class development project at Great Bear and two cornerstone production assets, Tasiast and Paracatu, that together produce over 50 per cent of our gold.

We introduced an enhanced share buyback program which, along with our quarterly dividend, saw us return $455 million to shareholders in 2022, which represented about 8 per cent of our market cap. We expect to continue with our dividend and dynamic buyback program in 2023 and 2024. In addition, we are proud to be a consistent leader in ESG performance and expect to publish our 2022 Sustainability Report in May. We strengthened Board oversight of ESG and advanced strategy, awareness and programming across the Company, focusing on achieving our targets and metrics to maintain our strong performance. The Company advanced its green energy targets with the construction of the Tasiast solar plant, which is expected to come online in the second half of 2023.”