No injuries reported; MSHA inspector is investigating the incident.
Kinross Alaska Jan. 27 reported a large conveyor belt caught fire at Fort Knox, temporarily shutting down operations at the more than 400,000-ounce-per-year gold mine about 20 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska.
The Alaska division of the global mining company Kinross Gold Corp. said no employees were in the area of the conveyor belt when the fire started, and no injuries resulted from the incident.
The fire was quickly identified, and fire suppression systems were activated.
“The fire was extinguished, and the site of the incident remains off limits and is being monitored by Fort Knox emergency response crews,” Kinross Alaska stated in a briefing of the incident.
Kinross notified the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, and an MSHA inspector from the Anchorage office was dispatched to investigate the incident.
“Safety is our top priority, and we appreciate the swift and professional response of our teams,” Kinross Alaska stated.
Further details on the cause of the incident will be available once investigations by MSHA and Kinross are complete.
Though operations at Fort Knox were temporarily shut down for an initial evaluation and to establish a safety perimeter around the conveyor, Kinross does not expect the incident to materially impact first-quarter gold production at the mine.
Through the first nine months of 2025, the Kinross Alaska mill at Fort Knox recovered 339,299 ounces of gold from ore mined from the site and delivered from the satellite Manh Choh mine about 250 miles to the southeast.
While the final tally for 2025 production will not be known until Kinross reports its year-end results, the operation entered October on pace to produce 450,000 oz last year, a pace that is expected to continue into 2026.
It is anticipated that additional details on the incident and any expected impacts on production will be addressed by Kinross management when the company reports its full-year 2025 results and 2026 operational guidance on Feb. 18.