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Kinross acquired its 100% interest in the Tasiast gold mine on September 17, 2010 upon completing its acquisition of Red Back Mining Inc. The Tasiast mine is an open pit operation located in north-western Mauritania and is approximately 300 kilometres north of the capital Nouakchott.

The Tasiast expansion project is Kinross' top development priority and is the cornerstone asset in the company's long-term growth strategy.

Tasiast is located within an extensive gold system that is largely underexplored. The deposit is open along strike and at depth. Gold mineralization occurs in two parallel trends: the Piment Zone, which is continuous over a 4.5 kilometre strike length, and the Greenschist Zone (West Branch), with a strike length of approximately 1.5 kilometres. Kinross will focus its 2012 exploration efforts at Tasiast along the mine corridor, and testing high-quality geological, geochemical and geophysical targets throughout the 80-kilometre greenstone belt.

Kinross is currently analyzing process options for the Tasiast expansion, including milling, heap leaching and different combinations of both, and is expected to make a preliminary selection of a processing option at the end of the second quarter of 2012. The Company is targeting to commence construction of the new production facilities in mid-2013, and to ramp up production in 2015. The construction period and start dates are expected to be confirmed following completion of the project feasibility study, expected in the first half of 2013.

Tasiast began commercial operations in 2008. Current mining operations consist of conventional open pit mining methods. High grade ore processing is based on three stage crushing, ball milling, and a carbon-in-leach circuit. Lower grade oxide ore is processed in a run-of-mine heap leach facility. In 2011, Kinross completed the construction of the West Branch dump leach and ADR (Adsorption, Desorption and Refining) facilities, the initial phase of the project expansion at Tasiast.

Mineral Reserve and Resource Summary

As at December 31, 2011