Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX: K; NYSE:KGC) today provided updates on its development projects, exploration program and its estimated mineral reserves and resources.

Development projects: Tasiast 24k: Proceeding on schedule and on budget to increase throughput to 21,000 t/d by year-end 2021 and 24,000 t/d by mid-2023.

Chulbatkan: Completed acquisition of a high-quality and prospective project, and commenced a substantial exploration drilling program with the goal of adding to the current 3.9 million Au oz. indicated resource base by year-end.

La Coipa Restart: Proceeding with the project that is expected to generate an internal rate of return1 (IRR) of 28% and net present value1,2 (NPV) of $118 million based on a $1,200/oz. gold price and $17/oz. silver price.

Fort Knox Gilmore: Proceeding on schedule and on budget, with stacking on the new heap leach pad expected to commence in Q4 2020.

Exploration and Mineral Reserves and Resources 3 update: Company added 7.7 million ounces to measured and indicated mineral resources in 2019, a 28% year-over-year increase, mainly due to the acquisition of Chulbatkan, and additions of 1.2 million Au oz. at Lobo-Marte, 1.1 million Au oz. at Paracatu, 568 Au koz. at Bald Mountain and 553 Au koz. at Round Mountain.

Paracatu added 828 Au koz. to mineral reserve estimates, more than offsetting depletion in 2019.

Mineral reserve additions at Chirano, which more than offset depletion, and at Kupol, extended mine life by one year to 2022 and 2024, respectively.

In 2020, Kinross is prioritizing exploration drilling at several operations, including Kupol, Chulbatkan and Chirano, as the Company continues to focus on opportunities for mineral resource and reserve additions.

After tax and incremental to estimated reclamation costs, of which the majority will be deferred to the end of the project. Corporate income tax expense is not expected to be payable at $1,200/oz. gold price in Chile as a result of the use of existing tax losses and the Company expects to recover approximately $20 million existing VAT credits through the project's life.

'We achieved key project and exploration milestones in 2019 to strengthen our portfolio and future production profile. Significant additions to mineral reserve and resource estimates at Paracatu improved the mine's long-term production outlook and offset depletion, while the mineral reserve additions from our exploration programs at Kupol and Chirano extended mine life at both operations by one year. The Tasiast 24k project is proceeding on plan, while at the same time, the mine continues to achieve record operational results due to the Phase One expansion. The Fort Knox Gilmore project is on schedule to start stacking on the new heap leach pad in Q4 2020.

'We are excited about our newly acquired high-quality Chulbatkan project, which we expect to be a substantial open pit, heap leach mine. The project has a strong base case and good upside potential, and we have a substantial drilling program planned for 2020 with the goal of adding to its resource estimates by year-end. We are also proceeding with the La Coipa Restart project, which has strong economics, adds to our production profile, and provides the option to continue studying opportunities in the area.'

The 24k project continues to advance well and remains on budget and on schedule to increase throughput capacity to 21,000 t/d by the end of 2021 and then to 24,000 t/d by mid-2023.

Stripping continues on plan, detailed engineering is largely complete, and procurement and contracting activities are well underway. The construction team has mobilized to site and initial debottlenecking work in the processing plant has commenced, along with construction activities related to the installation of a power plant.

The Company signed the $300 million project financing for Tasiast with the IFC (a member of the World Bank Group), Export Development Canada, and two commercial banks on December 16, 2019. The first funding draw from the loan, which is non-recourse to Kinross, is expected later in Q1 2020.

Chulbatkan

On January 16, 2020, the Company completed the acquisition of the high-quality Chulbatkan project in Russia. Chulbatkan has upside potential and is expected to be a substantial, open pit gold mine with low costs. The project currently has a large, near-surface, relatively high grade estimated mineral resource. The deposit is heap leachable and has potential for additional high-grade structures. Mineralization is open along strike and at depth, and is highly continuous.

The Company's initial mineral resource estimate does not include results from the confirmatory drilling program, which includes one hole that has encountered a potential high-grade structure within the existing mineral resource. Infill drilling and studies are planned this year to update the high-grade portion of the known resource with the goal of defining and further extending the resource base at year-end 2020.

Kinross has also commenced a $10 million exploration drilling program within the under-explored, highly prospective 120 sq. km license area, which has numerous untested potential targets and several structural environments analogous to the Chulbatkan deposit. Multiple downstream placer gold occurrences also indicate additional hard rock source mineralization may be found within the license area. As well, numerous surface rock samples with grades greater than 1 g/t have been collected outside of the defined resource area.

Company to proceed with La Coipa Restart project

The Company is proceeding with the La Coipa Restart project in Chile based on a feasibility study (FS) that contemplates leveraging existing infrastructure to mine the Phase 7 deposit.

The open pit project is expected to produce a total of approximately 690 Au eq. koz. from 2022 to 2024 at a cost of sales of $575 per Au eq. oz. Initial capital costs are expected to be approximately $225 million, with pre-stripping scheduled to begin in late 2020. Approximately $45 million of the initial capital costs are expected to be spent in 2020, with the remainder spent in 2021.

The project is expected to generate an IRR1 of 28% and NPV1,2 of $118 million based on a $1,200/oz. gold price and $17/oz. silver price, and an IRR1 of 42% and NPV1, 2 of $194 million based on a $1,500/oz. gold price and $17.50/oz. silver price.

The Puren6 deposit, which was included as part of the initial pre-feasibility study, was not incorporated into the project FS as a joint venture agreement has not been finalized. The Company will continue to explore opportunities to incorporate adjacent deposits with existing mineral reserves and resources, particularly Puren, Coipa Norte and Can Can, into the La Coipa mine plan with the goal of extending mine life. This includes conducting further technical studies, assessing permitting requirements, and continuing commercial discussions.

The pre-feasibility study (PFS) at Lobo-Marte is proceeding as planned and is scheduled to be completed mid-year. The PFS is based on the concept of commencing Lobo-Marte production after the conclusion of mining at Phase 7 and other potential opportunities at adjacent La Coipa deposits.

Fort Knox Gilmore

The Fort Knox Gilmore project continues to progress on schedule and on budget, with initial Gilmore ore encountered in Q4 2019 and stacked on the existing Walter Creek heap leach pad. Stripping advanced as planned during the quarter and is expected to continue throughout 2020. Completion of the new Barnes Creek heap leach pad, where 95% of Gilmore ore is expected to be stacked, and related pumping and piping infrastructure, remains on target for completion in Q4 2020. Procurement for all planned 2020 activities is largely complete and the project is ready to recommence construction activities in the spring.

Paracatu asset optimization program

The Paracatu asset optimization program that commenced in 2018 was completed in late 2019 with the successful implementation of a comprehensive grade control program. The results of the program include better characterization of the orebody, an improved ability to predict and react to ore variability, and improvements in throughput and recovery. In addition, as a result of a focus on continuous improvement programs, the site is benefiting from improved mining and processing costs and increased overall productivity. Lastly, site water management activities, the addition of renewable power sources with the acquisition of two hydroelectric power plants in 2018, and the continued successful tailings reprocessing project, have further contributed to improved site performance. A newly updated resource model has resulted in the addition of approximately 828 Au koz. to estimated mineral reserves, more than offsetting 2019 depletion of 705 Au koz. Measured and indicated resources also increased by approximately 1.1 million Au oz., or 35%, compared with 2018.

The Company intends to file a new Paracatu Technical Report in March 2020 that incorporates the above mentioned new information.

2019 Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources update

In preparing the Company's 2019 year-end mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates as of December 31, 2019, Kinross has maintained its conservative gold price assumptions of $1,200 per ounce for mineral reserves and $1,400 per ounce for mineral resources. Kinross continued to focus on estimated higher margin, lower cost ounces, and maintained its fully-loaded costing methodology.

Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves 3

Kinross' total proven and probable gold reserve estimate was 24.3 million Au oz. at year-end 2019 compared with 25.5 million Au oz. at year-end 2018. The net year-over-year decrease was mainly due to depletion and was largely offset by additions at Paracatu, Kupol and Chirano.

At Paracatu, approximately 828 Au koz. was added to estimated mineral reserves and more than offset depletion of 705 Au koz. The reserve addition was primarily as a result of an enhanced understanding of the orebody and engineering changes to the mine plan, as drilling data from the past two years was incorporated into the resource model.

The 327 Au koz. mineral reserve addition at Kupol largely offset depletion of 344 Au koz. and added one year of mine life to 2024. At Chirano, the 320 Au koz. mineral reserve addition from exploration more than offset depletion of 207 Au koz. and added one year of mine life to 2022.

Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources 3

Kinross' total estimated measured and indicated mineral resources at year-end 2019 increased by 7.7 million Au oz., or 28%, to 35.5 million Au oz. compared with 27.8 million Au oz. at year-end 2018. The increase was mainly due to the acquisition of the high-quality Chulbatkan deposit in Russia, which added 3.9 million Au oz. in estimated indicated resources.

Inferred Mineral Resources 3

Kinross' total estimated inferred gold resources at year-end 2019 were approximately 5.9 million Au oz., compared with 6.5 million ounces at year-end 2018. The net decrease was primarily a result of a conversion of estimated inferred ounces to indicated resources at Round Mountain, partially offset by exploration additions at Chirano and gains at Lobo-Marte due to engineering changes.

Exploration update

The Company's exploration efforts continued to focus within the footprint of existing mines during 2019. A total of more than 280,000 metres of drilling was completed, of which more than 50% was drilled in Russia. Exploration success in 2019 has resulted in one-year mine life extensions at Kupol to 2024 and Chirano to 2022.

Exploration efforts added approximately 658 Au koz. in estimated mineral reserves, before depletion, in 2019, and 2,709 Au koz. in measured and indicated mineral resources. Most of the mineral reserve additions were at Kupol and Chirano, while the mineral resource additions were at Bald Mountain, Fort Knox, Round Mountain, Kettle River, Chirano and Kupol. 2019 exploration highlights include: Kupol-Dvoinoye: A total of 327 Au koz. was added to estimated mineral reserves to largely offset depletion and 122 Au koz. from exploration was added to estimated measured and indicated resources at Kupol, as drilling that tested the depth and north extensions of the Kupol main vein system yielded strong results. Drill intercepts continue to confirm high-grade narrow-vein mineralization extending northwards and at depths below the Kupol mine workings. As a result of continued exploration success at Kupol and engineering optimization work at Dvoinoye, scheduled mill production at Kupol has been extended by another one year to 2024. During 2019, extensive regional exploration work within the large land package around Kupol and Dvoinoye identified targets for drill testing for 2020.

Chirano: Drilling continued to confirm the depth extensions at Akwaaba, Paboase and Tano. The high-grade portions of Obra beneath the mined out pit was extended, allowing for testing for underground mineability. Engineering studies at Suraw identified portions of the orebody for potential underground mining. During 2019, a total of 320 Au koz. was added to estimated mineral reserves, 159 Au koz. to measured and indicated resources and 118 Au koz. to inferred resources. The additions to mineral reserves increased mine life to 2022 and the Company continues to focus on upgrading mineral resources to mineral reserves to further extend mine life.

Bald Mountain: A total of 568 Au koz. was added to measured and indicated resources, primarily from the Top, Winrock and Redbird drilling programs. During 2019, a number of targets were tested of which three produced solid intercepts, including structurally controlled mineralization with intercepts up to 30.5 metres @ 1.18 g/t Au at 256 metres depth at the ZZ Top target.

For 2020, the brownfields exploration program will follow up on the mineralized targets identified in 2019 with infill drilling and geologic modelling, with the goal of converting the mineralization to estimated measured, indicated and inferred mineral resources.

Kupol-Dvoinoye: Kinross expects to spend up to $22 million in 2020, with a focus on upgrading mineral resources to reserves and exploring targets within the 'Kupol Synergy Zone of Influence.' The Kupol Synergy Zone of Influence project (KSP) is targeting exploration in an area that covers a radius of approximately 130 km around the Kupol plant that would potentially be economic to mine given the close proximity to the existing mill. These targets are expected to be tested to delineate mineralized geometry and to better understand mineralization.

Chirano: The Company is increasing exploration spending at Chirano to $10 million in 2020, compared with $8 million in 2019, to drill depth extensions at Akwaaba, Suraw and Tano. The program also includes the continued exploration of the high-grade extensions at the Obra pit, with the goal of establishing underground mining. The north extensions of Mamnao are being explored with the goal of extending the open pit mine life, which was re-started in 2019.

Bald Mountain: Kinross expects to spend $7 million at Bald Mountain in 2020. The focus at Bald is shifting from the near-mine infill drilling program to drill testing the generative targets that were identified in 2019. The aim is to explore for both intrusive-related and sediment-hosted type deposits that can deliver near-surface higher grade and/or large tonnage mineral resources similar to the size and grade of the Top or Vantage deposits.

Round Mountain: A large portion of the $6 million exploration budget allocated for Round Mountain in 2020 will focus on drilling the Phase X deposit, targeting high grade mineralization along the northwest trend. The trend is interpreted as a continuation of Phase W mineralization. Exploration will also continue in the South Caldera Rim area for low-grade bulk tonnage volcanic hosted mineralization.

Fort Knox: Kinross will continue to explore the western extension of Gilmore in 2020 with the aim of adding to estimated mineral resources. The East Wall, and brownfield targets around the Fort Knox site, including Gil-Sourdough and the Fairbanks district targets, will also be explored and tested in 2020.

Kupol - Dvoinoye

Exploration during 2019 at Kupol successfully added 327 Au koz. and 4.1 Ag Moz. to estimated mineral reserves to largely offset depletion, and 122 Au koz. and 1.5 Ag Moz. to measured and indicated mineral resources. The reserve additions were mainly from the NE Extension and North Extension where higher grades and wider thickness were encountered following sublevel development. With the additional mineral reserves, Kupol has replaced a full year of depletion thereby extending the mine life one year to 2024.

A total of approximately 90,100 metres was drilled at Kupol, of which approximately 50% was to test the NE Extension, Big Bend deeps and hanging wall mineralization. The drilling at the Southeast Extensions also increased mineral resources. Drilling at the Kupol Deeps and hanging wall identified additional inferred mineral resources that will be drilled in 2020 with the goal of converting to estimated measured and indicated mineral resources or reserves. Drilling at Moroshka added to mineral reserves from the north and bottom south of the deposit. Sublevel development also encountered higher than expected grades from grade control drill holes.

During the early part of 2019, work in the Kupol East Wedge area was discontinued due to lower grade results. Further work at Star North indicates a promising target, and will be explored further in 2020.

Kupol Regional Exploration

One of the main exploration objectives within the Kupol main vein deposit is to extend mine life to potentially bridge the gap in production between Kupol and the Chulbatkan project. The exploration group embarked on an extensive regional exploration program called the KSP, which is targeting the 130 km radius around the Kupol mill. Grassroots exploration has commenced in some of the identified target areas within the KSP and is planned to continue through 2020 to identify key areas that will be drilled.

Dvoinoye

At Dvoinoye, a total of approximately 72,000 metres of drilling was completed during 2019. Most of the drilling was carried out at Zone 37 West, Mine Dacite and the Pauk-September South trend. Results from the Mine Dacite area and the Pauk-September trend were encouraging, and further drilling is expected to continue in 2020.

Chirano

In 2019, exploration activities continued to demonstrate the strong potential of the known lode horizon and other promising west splay structures, and enhanced the prospectivity of the under-explored Bibiani style of mineralization to the north and east. The additions to mineral reserves at Chirano in 2019 increased mine life to 2022.

Approximately 34,000 metres were drilled at Paboase, Akwaaba, Tano, Obra and Mamnao North in 2019. A total of 320 Au koz. were added to mineral reserves, with a large portion of the addition obtained from Akwaaba. The other areas that added to mineral reserves were Paboase, Akoti, Suraw and Tano.

In addition, 159 Au koz. were added to measured and indicated resources and 118 Au koz. to inferred resources. These ounces were added mostly from Obra, where drilling under the mined-out pit in 2019 returned high grade zones with good widths. The Company will continue to explore this area in 2020, both along strike and down dip.

Totals may not fully add up due to rounding

Drilling continued at Mamnao North on the main mineralized lode trending north and to the west of the main lode. A moderate width higher-grade western splay shoot intersected one of the holes returning 24.8 metres @ 1.63 g/t Au, (True width), including 13.9 metres @ 2.15g/t Au. This structure bends westward and coincides with local networks of shears, which dilates and pinches.

The 2020 exploration budget at Chirano was increased to $10.0 million to explore the potential to further extend mine life.

Bald Mountain

Exploration at Bald Mountain focused on two primary initiatives in 2019: generative exploration work and near-mine resource additions. A total of approximately 50,000 metres was drilled in 2019. Near-mine exploration target areas included the Redbird, Top, Winrock, Duke, Galaxy and Gator resource areas through which a total of 568 Au koz. was added to estimated mineral resources.

During 2019 there was an increased focus on generative exploration for which a total of 13 target areas were tested and significant field work was completed on 11 additional pipeline targets. Three of the drill target areas produced encouraging intercepts. The ZZ Top target continued to define structural controlled mineralization with intercepts up to 30.5 metres @ 1.18 g/t Au at 256 metres depth. This target is deep and mineralization is constrained to a small structural volume. A target north of the Galaxy resource provided the most encouraging results, with mineralization up to 59.4 metres @ 1.08 g/t Au and 13.7 metres @ 1.17 g/t Au along an open trend. This is a northeast steep structure controlling mineralized dike and breccia.

Fort Knox

Exploration continued to focus on mineralization extensions of the Fort Knox ore body. A total of 7,300 metres of drilling was completed during 2019, mainly focusing on the western crest of the pit. The results were encouraging and resulted in the addition of 229 Au koz. in measured and indicated resources. During 2019, a ground gravity survey was completed from Fort Knox to Gil-Sourdough to understand the geological settings of the area for future exploration work. Kinross plans to continue to conduct exploration and resource conversion drilling at Fort Knox, Gil-Sourdough, and the Fairbanks District in 2020.

Curlew Basin Project (Kettle River)

During 2018, drilling at the Curlew Basin Project was re-focused to targets within and around the Curlew district and Kettle area due to increased mine rehabilitation requirements in the Curlew Basin. The 2019 program, therefore, focused on the Curlew district and generative targets. A total of 7,800 metres of drilling was completed during 2019 and the holes within Curlew generally had gold grades above 3 g/t Au in significant veining or brecciation. The Company is investigating underground drilling to further explore the targets to capture and model the high-grade vein sets in the deposit.

Round Mountain

Round Mountain completed a total of 14,000 metres of drilling at Phase S (south pit layback), Phase X (northwest continuation of Phase W mineralization) and within the South Caldera Rim. The conversion of 565 Au koz. of inferred mineral resources to measured and indicated resources was the result of the 2019 drilling program at Phase S, in the southeast part of the Round Mountain pit. Exploration is expected to continue to explore the extensions in Phase X in 2020 and for a Round Mountain-type mineralization within the South Caldera Rim.

Greenfield exploration update

In 2019, Kinross focused its greenfields exploration program on targets in Nevada, the Abitibi region in Quebec and Ontario, Manitoba, areas of Eastern Russia, and northern Finland's greenstone belts. The Company drilled approximately 21,100 metres on eight greenfields projects, six of which are in North America.

Key components of Kinross' focused greenfields exploration strategy include pursuing opportunities and high margin deposits through strategic investments and partnerships with high quality junior exploration companies. Kinross also focuses on fostering relationships with management teams that have a successful track record of discovery and keeping a solid pipeline of quality targets that demonstrate scope and scale for significant discovery.

In North America, Kinross explored projects in both joint venture (JV) and 100%-owned Kinross claims. Kinross and its JV partners undertook geochemical sampling, ground and airborne geophysical surveys and drilling programs. Indications of mineralization and prospective targets were generated at several projects, and first and second phase drilling programs were undertaken in 2019. The Company and its JV partners have also identified new opportunities in Nevada, Ontario, Manitoba, and Finland, and are assessing potential drilling programs at these projects for 2020.

In Canada, exploration focused on the Van Horne property in Ontario and the Laguna property in Manitoba, both of which are under joint venture agreements. Kinross is the operator of both projects and plans to continue exploration work in 2020 after encouraging results in 2019.

Conference call details

In connection with the release, Kinross will hold a conference call and audio webcast on Thursday, February 13, 2020 at 8 a.m. ET to discuss the results, followed by a question-and-answer session.

To access the call, please dial

Canada & US toll-free - (877) 201-0168; Conference ID: 1756358

Outside of Canada & US - +1 (647) 788-4901; Conference ID: 1756358

Replay (available up to 14 days after the call): Canada & US toll-free - (800) 585-8367; Conference ID: 1756358

Outside of Canada & US - +1 (416) 621-4642; Conference ID: 1756358

You may also access the conference call on a listen-only basis via webcast at our website www.kinross.com. The

audio webcast will be archived on our website at www.kinross.com.

This release should be read in conjunction with Kinross' Q4/2019 year-end results news release, 2019 year-end Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis report at www.kinross.com. Kinross' 2019 year-end Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis have been filed with Canadian securities regulators (available at www.sedar.com) and furnished with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (available at www.sec.gov). Kinross shareholders may obtain a copy of the financial statements free of charge upon request to the Company.

About Kinross Gold Corporation

Kinross is a Canadian-based senior gold mining company with mines and projects in the United States, Brazil, Russia, Mauritania, Chile and Ghana. Our focus is on delivering value based on the core principles of operational excellence, balance sheet strength, disciplined growth and responsible mining. Kinross maintains listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol:K) and the New York Stock Exchange (symbol:KGC).

Media Contact:

Tel: 416-369-6469

(C) 2020 Electronic News Publishing, source ENP Newswire