Ontario's Minister of Energy and Mines, Stephen Lecce, announced on Tuesday that the province has included Kinross Gold Corporation's (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC) Great Bear project into its "One Project, One Process" framework, aiming to expedite the mine approval process. This gold project, with a capital expenditure of $1.4 billion (approximately C$1.91 billion), is the first gold project in the fast-track permitting program, following the earlier additions of Canada Nickel Company's Crawford project and Frontier Lithium's PAK project. After reports indicated that mine approvals could take over a decade, the province hopes to reduce the approval timeline to two years by coordinating various consents. 
"We are breaking ground to prove that major projects can be built quickly and collaboratively," Lecce said in remarks made near Toronto. "Ontario's accelerated permitting system, reliable energy, and skilled workforce are making the province a more attractive destination for investment."
Toronto-based Kinross, one of Canada's major gold producers, is developing the Great Bear project, which, according to a 2024 preliminary economic assessment, plans to achieve annual production of 518,000 ounces of gold by 2029, with an all-in sustaining cost of $812 per ounce. This would place it among the top producers in Canada in terms of output and give it a competitive edge in terms of costs.
Kinross, which produces approximately 2 million ounces of gold annually, views the Great Bear project as a key part of its global development portfolio, which also includes the Manh Choh project in Alaska. The company produces about 500,000 ounces of gold from its Tasiast mine in Mauritania and has other projects in Brazil and Chile.
"This designation provides a more integrated and streamlined path for us to advance permitting in consultation with Indigenous communities and move toward commercial production," Kinross CEO J. Paul Rollinson said in the same news release. "Great Bear is a long-term asset with the potential to become one of Canada's significant gold mines."
Located 500 kilometers northwest of Thunder Bay, near the town of Red Lake, the project is a high-grade combined open-pit and underground mine with an initial life of 12 years. According to a 2024 resource update, the deposit contains 30.3 million tonnes of proven and indicated resources grading 2.81 grams of gold per tonne, equivalent to 2.7 million ounces of gold, plus an additional 25.5 million tonnes of inferred resources grading 4.74 grams of gold per tonne, equivalent to 3.9 million ounces of gold.
Ontario stated that the designation of the Great Bear project is coordinated with the province's Red Lake Transmission Line project, which will extend from Dryden to Red Lake to power new mines and communities. Electricity demand in the Dryden North region, including Red Lake, is projected to grow by up to 250% by 2050, primarily driven by the mining sector.
Ahead of the announcement, Kinross Gold's shares fell 2.6% on Tuesday morning in Toronto to C$45.66 per share, giving the company a market capitalization of C$55.2 billion.
