Canadian gold miner Kinross Gold Corp. will enter into a new joint venture and investment accord with Canada's Verena Minerals Corp. on gold prospecting in Brazil, a source close to Verena said.

The accord, expected to be announced imminently, will involve Kinross taking a stake of less than 10 percent in Verena Minerals' capital, the source said said on Wednesday.

It will also team up with Verena on a gold exploration project in Tapajos, in Brazil's northern state of Para, he said.

The project at Tapajos, a former wildcat (garimpeiro) gold mining area, is "at a preliminary stage," according to the source.

The new link-up represents an expansion of existing joint activities between the two Canadian gold miners.

In September 2005 Kinross and Verena signed an accord on joint venture development of Monte do Carmo, a gold-bearing area in Brazil's Tocantins state, where Verena holds prospecting rights.

So far Kinross has invested $8 million in mineral exploration at the Tocantins site, according to the source.