Seabridge Gold Sept. 29 reported that it has received early-stage construction permits from the Province of British Columbia for its KSM Project in northwestern B. C.
The permits issued include authority to construct and use roadways along Coulter Creek and Treaty Creek; rights-of-way for the proposed Mitchell-Treaty tunnels connecting project facilities; permission for constructing and operating numerous camps required to support construction activities; and authorization for early-stage construction activities at the mine site and tailings management facility.
Seabridge Gold Chairman and CEO Rudi Fronk commented, “We greatly appreciate the continuing support of the B. C. Government for the mining industry in general and our KSM Project in particular. The issuance of these construction permits affirms the value of early and extensive consultation with interested parties and the close collaboration that can be achieved among regulators and local communities.”
Fronk thanked officials from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Operations, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Ministry of Energy and Mines for their diligence and co-operation, as well as the Nisga'a Nation and First Nations who also made important contributions to finalizing these permits.
"The granting of land tenure for the proposed Mitchell – Treaty tunnels is an especially important milestone for the project, as it awards to KSM the rights to a corridor connecting the project's two main areas – the mine site and the tailings management facility," Fronk said.
The KSM Project has been undergoing a joint harmonized federal-provincial environmental assessment review as outlined by the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and received its BC Environment Assessment Certificate on July 30, 2014. Seabridge expects to receive the final federal decision in November.
