KSM Consultation Mandated
BC Supreme Court Upholds Seabridge Gold KSM Project Status, Orders Indigenous Consultation
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The Supreme Court of British Columbia has upheld the BC Environmental Assessment Office's ruling that Seabridge Gold's massive KSM copper-gold mine in northwestern BC was "substantially started" as of July 24, 2024. The June 8 decision allows the project to keep its environmental certificate — and its construction crews on site — while a narrow but significant consultation issue gets resolved. Daily Herald Tribune reported that the court dismissed a second petition by the SkeenaWild Conservation Trust outright.
The win is not total for Seabridge. The court found that the EAO failed to properly consult one petitioner, the Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha (TSKLH), an Indigenous nation whose territory covers the mine's planned tailings site. The EAO must now give TSKLH 90 days to submit written arguments and then reconsider its decision. Work at KSM continues during that process.
A Two-Decade Mining Fight Finally Reaches Court
The KSM project has been in development for nearly 20 years. The BC EAO issued the original Environmental Assessment Certificate (EAC) in July 2014, with a five-year deadline to "substantially start" construction. A project that misses that deadline loses its certificate and must go through the entire review process again — under newer, stricter rules. Two extensions, including one for COVID-19, pushed the deadline to July 29, 2024, The Observer reported.
Seabridge applied for a "substantially started" determination in January 2024. The EAO granted it on July 24–25, 2024, locking in the certificate for the life of the mine. Seabridge says it has spent $1.2 billion on the project to date, including $208 million on permanent infrastructure since January 2024. The mine holds an estimated 47.3 million ounces of gold and 7.3 billion pounds of copper, with a projected 52-year mine life.
Court Backs EAO on Merits but Faults Consultation Process
The court found the EAO's core decision — that KSM had met the "substantially started" threshold — was reasonable. That dismissed SkeenaWild Conservation Trust's petition, which argued the 10-year-old environmental assessment was too outdated to stand and that the SS criteria were never truly met. The court disagreed. Fort McMurray Today reported that Seabridge CEO Rudi Fronk called the ruling confirmation that "the reasonableness of the EAO determination" had been upheld.
However, the court ruled that the EAO did not do enough to consult TSKLH before making its July 2024 call. TSKLH's lawyer Ryan Beaton argued before the hearing that "there is no basis in law for the Province and Seabridge to consult and accommodate only larger First Nations." The court agreed that TSKLH — a smaller nation whose territory sits directly over the planned tailings facilities — deserved a proper hearing. The court did not cancel the determination; it ordered the EAO to hear TSKLH out and reconsider.
Tailings Site and Outdated Standards Drive Opposition
At the center of the dispute is a planned tailings storage facility — the pit where billions of tonnes of mining waste will be stored. SkeenaWild says the facility would hold 2.3 billion tonnes of waste, roughly 28 times the volume released in BC's 2014 Mount Polley tailings disaster. Environmental groups argue that since 2014, BC has adopted new Indigenous rights laws under DRIPA and changed its tailings safety standards after Mount Polley — none of which applied to KSM's original approval.
The Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC) also raised transboundary water concerns, since the Unuk and Nass rivers flow from the KSM site into Alaska. SEITC withdrew from the court proceedings in 2025 but remains publicly opposed. SkeenaWild biologist Adrienne Berchtold said massive projects like KSM must be "approved based on current science and for the right reasons."
Construction Continues as Seabridge Seeks a Major Partner
Seabridge confirmed that all work at KSM will continue during the 90-day TSKLH consultation window. The company estimates the full project will cost $8 billion to build and create 1,400 jobs during construction and more than 1,300 permanent jobs during production. BC designated KSM a "provincial priority" project on April 30, 2026 — a label Seabridge says reflects the mine's role in supplying copper for the global energy transition, Markets Financial Content reported.
Seabridge does not plan to build KSM alone. The company is actively seeking a senior mining partner to help fund a final construction decision. The "substantially started" status keeps the EAC alive and makes that partnership search significantly easier. The Nisga'a and Tahltan Nations, two larger Indigenous groups with territory in the region, have signed Impact Benefit Agreements with Seabridge and support the project moving forward.
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