Environmental leadership in the mining industry is a strategic business objective of Kinross Gold Corporation. Maintaining high professional standards for our environmental practices is vital to our long-term sustainable success and forms the foundation of our corporate reputation. Kinross acknowledges its responsibility to manage the environmental effects associated with its operations as we pursue our goal of generating value for our shareholders, our employees and our local communities.

Implementation

Kinross Gold Corporation will:

• Comply with applicable environmental laws and regulations at all times; at all locations; and at all stages of exploration, development, operations and closure.
• Establish and maintain standards, procedures and management controls to ensure that environmental considerations are balanced equally with competing priorities and other key business activities.
• Ensure that all employees and contractors are trained to understand their environmental responsibilities and create an environment conducive to adhering to the Company's policies, procedures and applicable regulations.
• Hold leadership accountable for the good environmental performance of our operations and projects. Inherent in that accountability will be the commitment of senior management to provide resources and create an environment that results in success.
• Reward and recognize behavior that supports environmental stewardship.
• Implement procedures to measure environmental performance, including regular audits of operations to verify compliance with the Company's corporate Environmental Policy and applicable regulations.
• Communicate openly with employees, the regulatory community, the public and stakeholders on environmental issues.
• Work proactively with other mining companies, policy makers and the public to define environmental priorities and to contribute to the development of responsible laws and regulations to protect the environment.
• Actively engage with credible third parties to develop continuous improvement in our environmental policies and practices.
• Continuously review environmental achievements and technology to share and promote implementation of best practices.
• Develop and maintain reclamation and closure cost estimates, account for those costs in the Company's business plans, and address the Company's reclamation and closure obligations in a way that demonstrates excellence and establishes industry-wide leadership through example.
• Require that the Corporate Responsibility Committee of the Board of Directors meets on a regular basis in order to monitor performance and confirm that Kinross adheres to these principles.

Water is used in our mining operations for ore processing and dust suppression and control. Wherever possible, Kinross recycles water from our processing operations in order to reduce water consumption. We have also instituted environmental control measures, including surface and groundwater monitoring, within the boundaries of the mine, the tailings dam and surrounding areas.

Water management is a critical component of our environmental management system. Each operation is required to maintain a predictive water balance to ensure that water is not wasted, and that site discharges, if required, are controlled and meet all regulatory requirements. Our EHS Management System includes a water balance standard that applies to all of our operations.

All of our milling process operations are designed to be closed loop systems and recirculate water. In many cases, run-off from the mine and other water, such as treated camp sewage, are also captured in the process water cycle. Where local regulations allow, some water may be discharged.

The most common air emission at our operations is dust, which is produced from road travel and mining operations. Dust from roads is controlled by road watering and the managed application of chemical surfactants. Dust at crushers and conveyor belt systems is controlled with mist sprays and collection systems deployed at emission sources.

Other common air emissions are the result of hydrocarbon combustion in trucks and other heavy equipment, mobile generators and other power sources. These emissions are primarily carbon dioxide, which we report annually through the Carbon Disclosure Project.

Climate change associated with industry and other human activities that produce greenhouse gases is a pressing public concern worldwide. Greenhouse gas emissions at Kinross are almost entirely from electrical and hydrocarbon fuels, which account for a significant portion of our costs. We have both an environmental as well as an economic imperative to improve efficiencies and limit greenhouse gas emissions at our operations.

Across the company we have established working groups of engineers who are analyzing our energy consumption and developing strategies to improve performance.

In our business, waste comes in two forms: mineral and non-mineral. Kinross has guidelines, procedures and processes in place to manage both types of waste generation and residues at our operations.

Non-Mineral Wastes
We recycle and reuse waste from our operations to the maximum practicable extent. Materials that cannot be recycled are disposed of in a manner that is environmentally acceptable and in compliance with regulations. Waste products include spent batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, cupels and crucibles, waste oil and spent solvents. We have procedures in place for all sites that outline the proper handling and storage of wastes to ensure that people and the environment are protected. We have recycling programs at each of our operations.

Mineral Wastes
In mining, mechanical and chemical processes are used to extract the desired products - gold and silver - from mined ore. What is left are residual materials called waste rock and tailings.


Tailings
Consistening of ground rock and residual process effluents, tailings are an important component of waste management for many gold mining operations. At our facilities, tailings are placed into engineered storage facilities - usually behind dams built on land near the mine, known as tailings dams. After mining stops at a site, tailings dams are decommissioned and reclaimed to ensure that they become a part of the post-mine land use and pose no hazard to the public or environment.

The objective of our tailings management program is to design, build and operate tailings structures that are:

• physically stable under all anticipated conditions and that meet regulatory and engineering guidelines;
• chemically stable, such that the quality of any seepage or surface run-off does not endanger human health or the environment; and
• able to be closed at the end of mine life in a manner compatible with the surrounding land use, and which have a minimal impact on the environment.

We also require an annual review of our tailings facilities by a third-party engineer,
to help further ensure their stability and safety.

Waste Rock
Each operation has its own waste rock management plan that outlines procedures to identify and manage materials that may be subject to leaching, including acids, metals or other substances that could potentially impact surface or groundwater. Waste rock piles are designed and constructed to be stable. We have company-wide systems to regularly monitor and inspect waste piles to ensure that they are being maintained in accordance with our standards. If waste material such as bedrock or development rock is geochemically suitable, it can be used as a source of fill, road base or for other construction purposes.

Cyanide is one of the most efficient and safe reagents for the extraction of gold from rock. Consistent with our commitment to EHS best practices, we have committed to complying with the International Cyanide Management Code. This voluntary code, developed by a multi-stakeholder group under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme, includes a requirement for third-party certification. The Code focuses on the safe manufacture, transportation, storage, use and decommissioning of cyanide and associated facilities. Going well beyond legal requirements in most of our locations, the Code establishes high EHS design and operating standards for all Kinross operations.

Returning land disturbed by mining to stable and productive post-mining land uses is a cornerstone of our commitment to prudent and responsible stewardship of the environment. At Kinross, reclamation planning begins before construction and is regularly updated throughout the life of each mining operation. In this way we are able to manage and adjust our reclamation strategies and financial provisions as new information becomes available or mining operations are optimized. During the life of each mine, reclamation test plots as well as engineering and environmental studies assist us in verifying and optimizing reclamation strategies and plans. Every effort is made to reclaim land no longer required for operations while mining operations are still active.

Upon cessation of mining operations, responsibility for the demolition of facilities, final reclamation and compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements is assumed by Kinross' reclamation business unit. Established as a separate organization within the company in 2002, this unit ensures that best practices are employed across the company and that Kinross' reclamation obligations are promptly and efficiently fulfilled.

Visit our Media Centre to watch a Kinross Reclamation video.

Environmental stewardship at Kinross includes the identification and assessment of biological communities in the vicinity of our operations. Where there is potential for impacts to those communities, mining operations are designed to avoid, minimize or mitigate their effects.

As a standard part of all environmental impact analyses, we evaluate any potential impact on biodiversity, and if there is an impact, we outline the proposed steps that will be taken to mitigate it. In general, none of our operations has a significant impact on any sensitive listed species.