Toronto, Ontario -- Kinross Gold Corporation announced today that a regional exploration program aimed at expanding gold resources in the Timmins area is underway. The program consists of diamond drilling, geophysical work and evaluations totalling $1.5 million, secured through flow-through financing. The program will extend for a period of at least 15 months.

Targets included in the program are the McIntyre Porphyry, the Coniaurum Mine, the Hallnor/Bonetal property, the Wetmore Property south of the Bell Creek Mill, Pamour North and the Hopson property, located near Nighthawk Lake. Compilation of historical information is well underway in preparation for the start of field operations. NDS Drilling of Timmins has been contracted to complete all of the surface diamond drilling. Diamond drilling has begun on the prospective ground between the Hoyle Pond and Pamour Mines.

Additional diamond drilling is scheduled to commence on October 29th in the vicinity of the former McIntyre Mine. Drilling in this area will target the Central Porphyry Zone for underground mining targets hosted within the Pearl Lake Porphyry. Drilling will be conducted from the north side of Pearl Lake utilising environmentally-sound containment procedures. The Kinross program is designed to identify new resources in under-explored ground adjacent to the main McIntyre orebody. The McIntyre Mine operated from 1912 to 1988, producing 10.8 million ounces of gold.

The program will explore areas that have the potential to ultimately add significantly to Kinross' current mineral inventory of over 6 million ounces of gold in the Timmins area.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information