Teryl Resources Corp

Teryl's Gil Venture gold resources fit precisely into Kinross' longstanding concept for getting the maximum gold out of the mine region, in the shortest time and with the highest net profitability. A Kinross planning document is referenced here to explain their intentions.

Kinross has for a long time maintained the concept of a “regional mill” (now including "regional heap leach"), in which low grade ore from the remainder of the Fort Knox pit is blended with higher grade ore from “satellite” deposits, such as the Gil. The general relationship of the deposits is shown below:

The "True North Mine Project - Cumulative Impacts Analysis" document, submitted August 2, 2000 by Fairbanks Gold Mining Inc. (FGMI is the subsidiary of Kinross operating the Fort Knox mine), describes Kinross' regional mill (and now regional heap leach) concept as follows. It was written to justify extraction from a series of satellite deposits, beginning with the True North as the first "satellite" (according to plan it was developed and it has has since been mined out):

(from third paragraph): “... Pursuant to this approach, FGMI would haul higher-grade ore from a “satellite deposit” to blend with ore from the very much larger but lower grade Fort Knox deposit. Such blending could have a substantial positive impact on the latter’s economics by converting the currently marginal and sub-economic lower grade mineral resources at Fort Knox to an economic reserve; that is, mine life could be extended by making the large lower grade resource economic to mine and process ... prospects in the region which Kinross owns outright, or in which it is a substantial owner, include Gil, approximately eight miles northeast of the Fort Knox Mill; Westridge/Steamboat, approximately four miles west-northwest; and Amanita, approximately five miles south southwest (Fig. 1). ... Because of the capital costs in developing satellite projects, including the trucks to haul to the Fort Knox Mill, it is unlikely that more than two satellite projects would operate simultaneously except during an overlap between projects starting up and closing down. A more likely scenario would be sequential development of satellite as long as there would be sufficient reserves of lower grade ore in the Fort Knox deposit.”

So the basic concept is to increase total gold ounce production, and profitability by adding higher-grade ore such as from the Gil, to Fort Knox low-grade ore. The True North "satellite" pit was first to go and is now finished.

The net effect of developing the Gil Venture gold resources is to increase overall gold production from the mine's capacity to perform excavation, truck haulage and heap leach processing. As well, costs would be reduced as the Gil is much closer to the heap leach, and the elevation difference is less, decreasing haulage and pit overhead.

Of the “other prospects” discussed as likely satellites in Kinross' document, only Teryl's Gil has the resources and is at a sufficiently advanced stage to exploit.

The original document, which countenanced the True North as the first of a series of "satellite" pits, is reproduced below: