this just in: kinross received approval to start drilling ecuador. who said this day would never come? um, i think it was me...several times, in fact.

Toronto, Ontario, November 10, 2009 – Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX-K; NYSE-KGC) today announced that it has 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 re-commence its drilling program at FDN shortly. The program includes a 20,000 meter drilling campaign to support completion of a feasibility study. The Company plans to use four drills to execute the drilling 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. ”We look forward to working closely with the government of Ecuador and local communities to advance the development of responsible mining at
FDN,” he added.

http://www.kinross.com/news/11102009-1.pdf