Message from President and CEO

At Kinross, our core values of Putting People First, Rigorous Financial Discipline, High Performance Culture, and Outstanding Corporate Citizenship define who we are as a company, and determine how we conduct business in a responsible way for our employees, our shareholders, and our stakeholders.

We value the health and safety of our employees above all other priorities, and I am happy to report that 2015 was the safest year in the history of the Company. Over the last three years, 2013 to 2015, we achieved a 23% reduction in Total Reportable Injury Frequency (TRIFR) and had zero fatalities. While we can never allow ourselves to become complacent, we do celebrate accomplishments. For example, our Round Mountain mine has been named the Safest Large Mine in Nevada for two years running. Watch the video

Our safety record comes during a time when we have also been setting production records. 2015 marked the fourth consecutive year that Kinross has met or exceeded its guidance on production and costs, even though over that period, we have seen the gold price fall from a high of almost $1,800 per ounce to a low of less than $1,050 per ounce. We have had to make some tough choices, including decisions to suspend some operations and reduce the size of our workforce. Throughout, we have stayed true to our values, and have consistently delivered on the expectations we have set and the commitments we have made to our shareholders and broader stakeholder community.

As some of our stakeholders have seen their own challenges, I’m proud of the fact that our operations have been a source of stability in our host communities.

In Chile, we were able to step in and help re-establish lines of communication, access, and livelihoods for indigenous peoples whose land was destroyed by extreme rainfall and mudslides.

In West Africa, in partnership with local authorities and Project C.U.R.E., we’ve been able to support the delivery of much needed medical supplies and increase access to improved health care for people living near our operations in Mauritania and Ghana. Watch the video

In Brazil, the city of Paracatu has developed more rapidly, and ranks higher in many human development indicators than national Brazil or statewide Minas Gerais averages – in particular in the area of education, where our Integrar program has led to improved test scores for local schools. Watch the video

There are many other examples, described in this report, but I’d like to emphasize a few highlights:

  • Economic Contribution. Over the past two years, we’ve contributed $4.8 billion to the economies of our host countries through wages, procurement and taxes, which amounts to 73% of the value we’ve generated from metal sales over the same period – an incredible measure of the benefit footprint we generate around the world.
  • Environmental Stewardship. We have strengthened our already strong tailings management standards to include a quarterly scorecard to track alignment with design parameters at each of our tailings facilities. We have also reduced the amount of water we use by 38% over the past two years, while energy efficiency projects have resulted in estimated greenhouse gas reductions of over 140,000 tonnes of CO2e since 2012 based on the operational conditions at the time these projects were implemented.
  • Stakeholder Engagement. We value the input of stakeholders, a fact reflected in the 168,000 interactions we had with stakeholders in 2015. Positive feedback far outweighs negative feedback as we registered 3,800 thank you notes and other expressions of support compared with 132 general complaints and 58 specific grievances.

These successes come from our principled approach, as defined by our Ten Guiding Principles for Corporate Responsibility. We integrate those principles in our operations at all levels of the Company by establishing specific standards and expectations for performance to ensure they guide our actions. At the same time, we remain committed to deliver on our external commitments to the UN Global Compact.

We do face challenges – water issues at Maricunga and Paracatu, and increasing stringency of water permits in Washington state, for example – and in the spirit of transparency we address those challenges in this report. At the same time, however, I am confident that the exceptional people we have at Kinross will be able to address these issues, and the new issues that will inevitably arise as we go forward, by remaining true to our core values.

Above all else, I am proud of what our employees have accomplished over the two years covered by this report. I also am deeply grateful to the communities where we operate for their continuing cooperation, partnership and support. I pledge that we will continue to work hard to earn the respect and trust of our stakeholders worldwide, and to meet the highest standards of responsible mining.

J. Paul Rollinson
President and CEO