Kinross Gold announced that it had obtained authorization from the Ecuadorian Ministry of Non-Renewable Natural Resources to re-commence advanced exploration activities at the Fruta del Norte (FDN) gold project in Zamora-Chinchipe province in Ecuador.

With this authorization, Kinross expects to restart its drilling program at FDN shortly. The program includes a 20,000-m drilling campaign to support completion of a feasibility study. The company plans to use four drills to execute the campaign which is expected to take six months to complete. Kinross expects to complete a pre-feasibility study in January 2010. “The re-launch of the advanced exploration program is an important and positive development for the FDN project and for the mining industry in Ecuador,” said Tye Burt, president and CEO, Kinross.

Iamgold intends to resume feasibility work at Quimsacocha once the necessary authorization is received. It has been waiting for Ecuador to issue regulations, which were considered as the necessary final step for allowing the Minister of Mines to authorize mining activity to resume at Quimsacocha. During May, Ecuador issued new transitional regulations to expedite the resumption of field work. Iamgold has complied with all requirements under the transitional regulations and is ready to resume mining activity at site and complete feasibility work, explained Joe Conway, president, Iamgold. The company previously said that it expects to complete a feasibility study and an environmental impact assessment, at a cost of C$14 million, within 12 months of the mining regulations being in place.

Corriente also announced that it has received a formal notification from the ministry which establishes that the company is in full compliance with applicable legislation on its concessions and is authorized to restart all advance development work on the Mirador project. “We are looking forward to working closely with the Ministry as we move the Mirador Project forward in a just fashion that meets both the urgent local needs and fully addresses the important concerns of all stakeholders,” said Ken Shannon, CEO, Corriente. The company holds a 100% interest in four copper and copper-gold porphyry deposits that are being strategically developed as the Mirador project, which includes the Mirador Norte deposit, and the Panantza-San Carlos project.