Kinross gold mine near Red Lake gets fast-tracked

The Ontario government is accelerating the permitting process for Kinross Gold Corporation’s Great Bear Project through its new “One Project, One Process” framework.

The Great Bear Project is a proposed gold mine located near Red Lake, with both open-pit and underground mining operations planned, and an initial mine life of 12 years.

Kinross will be investing $5 billion into the mine, which is expected to produce about 900 jobs, and many additional miscellaneous jobs through construction.

In a statement, J. Paul Rollinson, CEO of Kinross Gold, described Great Bear as “a generational asset, and positioned to become one of Canada’s largest and most profitable gold mines once operational.”

Kinross expects the mine to produce an average of more than 500,000 ounces of gold per year, with the potential for more than 5 million ounces in initial production, and the possibility for expansion in the long-term.

In an announcement made from Mississauga, Ontario, Minister for Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce pitched the fast-tracking as a matter of national importance amidst fraught times:

“We’re sending a message that we can be bold, we can be ambitious, we can move with speed, we can do it in the national interest at a time when our country is under attack.”

Major construction on the mine is expected to begin in 2027, and gold production is expected to start in 2029.