Kinross (KGC) Gets Mining Rights Adjacent To Fort Knox

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) declared that it has gained mining rights to a 709 acre land known as Gilmore, which is located near its Fort Knox mine in Alaska. The move allowed the company to add 2.1 million gold ounces in estimated indicated and measured resources and 300,000 ounces in estimated inferred resources at Fort Knox.

Kinross started an initial drilling program on Gilmore land and Fort Knox land in 2014. It targeted potential opportunities at the existing Fort Knox orebody, which continues west, and completed roughly 73,000 meters of core and reverse-circulation drilling in 205 holes.

The company also converted roughly 260,000 ounces of mineral resources from the East wall of the Fort Knox pit into probable and proven reserves, which offset some of the reserve depletion in 2017 and resulted in an increase to Fort Knox's estimated mine life by about a year.

Kinross expects to provide an update on the Gilmore feasibility study in mid-2018. The study analyzes a layback of the present Fort Knox pit to access known mineralization on Gilmore and Fort Knox land to potentially extend mine life. The company also expects to start the permitting process for mining at Gilmore by the end of year.

According to Kinross, Gilmore is a promising organic development opportunity that can extend mine life at Fort Knox, one of its top producing and high performing operations. With this move, the company will continue to deliver on its strategy of pursuing high-potential, low-risk brownfield projects that can contribute to its long-term future growth.

Shares of Kinross have lost 20.8% in the past three months, underperforming the industry’s 12.5% decline.

Kinross, in November, announced that it is on track to achieve towards the top end of its earlier announced gold production guidance range of 2.5-2.7 million gold equivalent ounces for 2017. The overall production cost of sales and all-in sustaining cost are also tracking towards the bottom end of the earlier announced guidance range of $660-$720 per gold equivalent ounce and $925-$1,025 per gold equivalent ounce, respectively.

Kinross is making steady progress in advancing the projects that give it a strong growth profile. The company also remains focused on managing costs, which is reflected by a decline in all-in sustaining costs in the last reported quarter.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Kinross currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE:WLK) , Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) and Kronos Worldwide Inc. (NYSE:KRO) . All three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.

Westlake Chemical has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 10.6%. Its shares have moved up 80.2% year to date.

Daqo New Energy has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 7%. Its shares have surged a whopping 162.2% year to date.

Kronos Worldwide has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 5%. Its shares have rallied 115.8% year to date.

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