these are taken from the kinross news release. at first they planned to spend $45 million, but later only $9.9 million, which seems more likely with only 2 drills turning.

Fruta del Norte

On January 29, 2009, a new Mining Law was published in the Ecuadorian government's official registry and has now taken effect.

The Company has since commenced discussions with government authorities to obtain permits that are necessary in order to re-commence its infill drilling program and to advance the project in other areas.

Two drills are on site at FDN, which will be immediately deployed on an 8,000-meter infill drilling campaign once the necessary permits are obtained. The infill drilling program itself is expected to take about three months to complete. Kinross plans to spend $45 million in Ecuador this year, part of which will be dedicated to upgrading mineral resources and supporting a pre-feasibility study at FDN.

The Company will provide an update on the FDN permitting time-line as and when more information becomes available.

Some key projects based on Kinross' budgeted exploration expenditure in 2009 include:

- Fruta del Norte: The Company has budgeted $9.9 million for infill drilling to convert inferred resources to indicated category and to continue district-scale exploration including follow-up drilling of quality targets along the FDN trend.

http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/090218/04754...