UPDATE 1-Kinross Gold fourth-quarter net loss narrows, cuts reserves

(Adds earnings, reserves details)

Feb 12 (Reuters) - Kinross Gold Corp on Wednesday said its fourth-quarter net loss narrowed from the same period a year earlier when the miner faced a $3.2 billion writedown related to two mines in Africa.

Kinross reported a net loss of $740 million, or 65 cents a share, in the three months to end-December compared with a loss of $2.98 billion, or $2.62, in the same period a year ago.

Adjusted for various items, Kinross reported a loss of $25.1 million, or two cents a share, mainly due to a weaker gold price, higher production costs and depreciation.

Analysts, on average, expected earnings of three cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Kinross said its gold reserves, its store of unmined gold, stood at 39.7 million ounces of gold at the end of 2013, down 33 percent from 59.6 million ounce at the end of 2012, reflecting depletion, the divestiture of the Fruta del Norte project in Ecuador and the adoption of "fully-loaded costing"' on reserves.

The Toronto-based miner said it expected to produce between 2.5 million and 2.7 million ounces of gold equivalent ounces in 2014. That compares with 2.6 million ounces produced in 2013.

Gold equivalent ounces include silver ounces produced and sold, converted to a gold equivalent based on a ratio of the average spot market price for the commodities for each year.

(Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by David Gregorio and Diane Craft)

((nicole.mordant@thomsonreuters.com)(+1-604-664-7315)(Reuters Messaging: nicole.mordant.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: KINROSS RESULTS/