<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>EX-5.1
<SEQUENCE>2
<FILENAME>ex5-1.txt
<DESCRIPTION>EXHIBIT 5.1
<TEXT>

<PAGE>
                                                                     Exhibit 5.1

June 14, 2006

Kinross Gold Corporation
52nd floor, Scotia Plaza
40 King Street West
Toronto, ON  M5H 3Y2

Crown Resources Corporation
4251 Kipling Street, Suite 390
Wheat Ridge, Colorado 80033

Ladies and Gentlemen:

RE:  REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM F-4 (THE "REGISTRATION STATEMENT")
     FILED BY KINROSS GOLD CORPORATION WITH RESPECT TO THE ISSUANCE OF
     APPROXIMATELY 14,820,678 COMMON SHARES IN CONNECTION WITH THE MERGER
     BETWEEN CROWN MERGER CORPORATION AND CROWN RESOURCES CORPORATION

We have acted as counsel for Kinross Gold Corporation, a corporation organized
in the province of Ontario, Canada ("Kinross") in connection with the proposed
merger (the "Merger") of Crown Merger Corporation ("Crown Merger"), a Washington
corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Kinross, with Crown Resources
Corporation, a Washington corporation ("Crown"), pursuant to the terms of the
Acquisition Agreement and Agreement and Plan of Merger by and between Kinross,
Crown Merger and Crown dated as of November 20, 2003, as amended (the "Merger
Agreement"). Unless otherwise specified herein, all capitalized terms used in
this opinion have the meaning assigned to them in the Merger Agreement.

In the Merger, each issued and outstanding share of Crown common stock will be
converted into 0.32 common shares of Kinross ("Common Shares"). In addition, at
the election of the holder of any unexercised warrant to purchase Crown common
stock, the warrant will be exchanged for 0.32 Common Share for each share of
Crown common stock that would have been issued on the exercise of the warrant
immediately prior to the Effective Time on a cashless basis. Cash will be paid
in lieu of fractional Common Shares.

The Merger and the Merger Agreement are more fully described in the Registration
Statement relating to the registration of the Common Shares to which this
opinion is an exhibit, which is being filed by Kinross with the Securities and
Exchange Commission pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The
Registration Statement includes the Proxy Statement/Prospectus of Crown.

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                                                                          Page 2

In rendering the opinion expressed below, we have examined and relied upon the
accuracy of the facts, information and representations and the completeness of
the covenants contained in the Merger Agreement, the Registration Statement and
Prospectus and such other officer certificates and documents as we have deemed
relevant and necessary. Our opinion is conditioned, among other things, not only
upon such accuracy and completeness as of the date hereof, but also the
continuing accuracy and completeness thereof as of the Effective Time. Moreover,
we have assumed the absence of any change to any of such instruments between the
date hereof and the effective time of the Merger.

We have also assumed the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as
originals, the genuineness of all signatures, the legal capacity of all natural
persons and the conformity with original documents of all copies submitted to us
for our examination. We have further assumed that the transactions related to
the Merger or contemplated by the Merger Agreement will be consummated in
accordance with the Merger Agreement and as described in the Registration
Statement.

Based on the foregoing, we advise you that, in our opinion:

1.      The issuance of the Common Shares to be issued by Kinross in connection
        with the Merger has been duly approved by the board of directors of
        Kinross and such shares, when issued in accordance with the provisions
        of the Merger Agreement, will be validly issued, fully paid and
        non-assessable.

2.      The discussion contained in the Registration Statement under the caption
        "Canadian Federal Tax Consequences" represents our opinion of the
        material Canadian Federal income tax consequences of the Merger.

We express no opinion on any issue relating to income tax consequences of the
Merger other than those described under the caption "Canadian Federal Tax
Consequences".

We assume no obligation to update or supplement this letter to reflect any facts
or circumstances which may hereafter come to our attention with respect to the
opinions expressed above, including any changes in applicable law which may
hereafter occur.

We hereby consent to the identification of us as having rendered the opinion
herein, and reference to the foregoing opinion, including the filing of this
opinion as an exhibit, to the Registration Statement.

                                              Very truly yours,
                                              /s/
                                              "Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP"
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