Seabridge Gold has filed its formal response in B.C. Supreme Court to a legal petition challenging the province’s decision to grant its KSM project a Substantially Started (SS) designation—a crucial step that ensures the project's environmental certificate remains valid indefinitely.
“Our team’s engagement and work in support of advancing KSM has been exemplary, especially while striving to achieve the SS determination,” said CEO Rudi Fronk. “I am confident that our Responses, and those of the B.C. Government, provide strong support that the EAO’s decision to grant the SS designation was indeed procedurally fair and not unreasonable. Resolving this issue will facilitate the next steps in project development beyond this year’s extensive work schedule."
While the legal process continues, the SS designation remains in effect.
Under British Columbia’s environmental review framework, major projects are granted an Environmental Assessment Certificate with a deadline by which construction or development must begin. If the province determines sufficient progress has been made by that deadline, it issues an SS designation. This allows the certificate to remain in effect permanently. Without it, a project may lose its approvals and be required to restart the assessment process.
The Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation has asked the court to overturn the province’s July 2024 decision, arguing the government failed in its duty to consult and accommodate the community. In its petition, the Nation said the province “effectively greenlit” the massive gold mining project without meaningful involvement from the community.
“All we’re saying is let it be done in accordance with the law, and with the province’s respect [for] its own analysis of the evidence,” said Ryan Beaton, lawyer for the Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation, in a May 2 interview. He said the community is not opposed to development in principle, but believes it has been sidelined during the process.
Seabridge's response builds on a separate filing by the provincial government in April, which outlined its consultation efforts and rationale for approving the designation.
The court has scheduled the hearing for late September.
