Seabridge says Indigenous nation was given ‘extensive opportunity’ for consultation

Following the Gitxsan Huwilp government’s (GHG) decision to withdraw support for Seabridge Gold's (TSX: SEA, NYSE: SA) KSM mine on Thursday, the company released a statement refuting claims made by GHG and the Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation (TSKLH).

TSKLH said it was not properly consulted on the environmental risks of KSM’s tailings management facility to waterways on its traditional territory. In June, B.C.’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of TSKLH, saying that the province breached its constitutional duty. Following the ruling, GHG, a governing body that advocates for the Gitxsan Nation, rescinded its longstanding support for Seabridge in solidarity.

In a company news release, Seabridge said TSKLH “were given extensive opportunity, fully funded by Seabridge, for full consultation in respect of the TMF at a more conceptual level during the KSM Project environmental assessment review process.”

TSKLH has until Sept. 28 to submit documentation to the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (BCEAO). After this period, BCEAO will reconsider its decision.

Land rights debate

The company also took issue with what it called TSKLH’s assertion that the TMF is located on its exclusive territory. Seabridge said the Tahltan and the Nisga’a nations also have treaty rights in the region. “TSKLH's insistence that the company treat them as exclusive owners of this territory has made our relationship with TSKLH challenging,” Seabridge said in its statement.

Ryan Beaton, TSKLH’s legal counsel, said Seabridge’s statement was contrary to conclusions reached by the province. “Perhaps it is widely accepted that the Tahltan Nation claims that area, but it certainly is not widely accepted that there is any evidentiary merit to that claim,” Beaton told the Canadian Mining Journal.

Beaton referenced a 2021 ethnographic report on TSKLH Nation's rights and title claims and a 2023 letter from the provincial ministry of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, agreeing with the study’s assessment.

Seabridge’s shares, which had recently risen on the back of a $100 million (C$137.61 million) credit arrangement, fell 10% Friday morning in Toronto.