Buckhorn gold mine

Buckhorn mine is located in north-central Washington State, approximately 76km from Kinross's Kettle River gold mining facility. Crown Resources Corporation initially applied for a licence to build an open-pit mine at the top of the 5,600 mountain near the Canadian border.
This application received strong disapproval from local residents and environmentalists that wanted to protect the natural beauty of Okanogan National Forest, where the mountain is located. In 1992, the Okanogan Highlands Alliance was formed to consolidate activists' activities.
In 1996, Kinross purchased Crown Resources Corporation for more than $100m and along with the acquisition gained the Buckhorn site. Since then, Kinross has built 8.5 miles of road, has installed buried power cables, built an administration building as well as a fuelling facility and power distribution plant. In total, Kinross has invested a further $100m at the mine. It has also changed all mining applications from open-pit to an underground mine.
Production
In April 2008, the last legal barrier to starting production was removed and ore began to be produced in October. Production for 2008 was between 25,000oz to 30,000oz, at an expected cost of between $365 and $385 an ounce.
The gold mine has an estimated 100 million ounces of deposits and an estimated mine life of between seven and eight years. From 2009 onwards it is expected to produce around 130,000oz per annum or between 500t of ore and 1,500t of development rock per day. Total costs on the mine during 2008 totalled about $27m. Proven and probable reserves equate to nearly two million tons at a grade of 15.46g/t.