Toronto, Ontario -- Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX-K; Amex-KGC) announces that its 54.7% owned Russian subsidiary, Omolon Gold Mining Company, is at an advanced stage of negotiating a settlement of an outstanding dispute between itself, several of its Russian shareholders and the Magadan Administration. Draft language of an agreement was being settled when earlier in the week one of the Russian shareholders, obtained an order to freeze Omolon's bank accounts and gold inventory pending final resolution of its lawsuit.

Robert M. Buchan, President and CEO stated "This heavy handed tactic is, in our experience, not unusual in the context of dispute resolution in Russia and Omolon anticipates finalizing the settlement agreement by early next week. Ordinarily we do not comment on the status of confidential negotiations and would prefer to wait until agreements are concluded. To date the freeze order has not impacted Omolon's ability to operate."

Underlying the dispute are unpaid loans made by the Magadan Administration to Omolon's Russian shareholders at the time Omolon was capitalized. In the face of the inability of these shareholders to repay the loans there has been an effort to shift the burden of repayment to Omolon. As previously disclosed, two shareholders have launched lawsuits against Omolon alleging that the shares they received were flawed as a result of registration deficiencies which therefore entitles such shareholders to their money back with interest compounded thereon. These lawsuits have been encouraged by the Magadan Administration as the major creditor of these shareholders. Omolon continues to defend these lawsuits and is advised by counsel that these claims are without merit.

Omolon has over the past 18 months attempted to achieve an amicable settlement by negotiating with both the Administration and with representatives of the shareholders. The settlement would see Omolon purchasing the shares of the Russian shareholders for an amount which would enable the shareholders to retire the outstanding debt to the Administration. This week the settlement was advanced by the parties agreeing on a method to resolve the spread between Omolon's previous offer and what the other side was asking (the differential has been approximately U.S. $7 million).

Once the anticipated settlement is implemented Omolon will purchase for cancellation all of the shares held by its Russian shareholders except for approximately 2% owned by the Magadan State Property Committee. This will result in Kinross' interest in Omolon increasing to approximately 98% from its current level.

This press release includes certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and reserves, exploration results and future plans and objectives of Kinross Gold Corporation ( "Kinross"), are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Kinross' expectations are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in Kinross' documents filed from time to time with the Toronto Stock Exchange, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
This press release includes certain “Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and reserves, exploration results and future plans and objectives of Kinross Gold Corporation (“Kinross”), are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Kinross’ expectations are disclosed under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in Kinross’ documents filed from time to time with the Toronto Stock Exchange, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.