SEABRIDGE PROPOSES REGULATORY ROLLBACKS AND SEPARATION OF 14-MILE TUNNELS FROM KSM MINE IN PERMIT AMENDMENT

Seabridge Gold has submitted an application to amend its 2014 permit to treat the twinned tunnels, which are integral to the mine, as a standalone development. The same application proposes significant water treatment changes, including the removal of selenium discharge limits.

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The 44 km/27 mi Mitchell-Treaty Twinned Tunnels will connect the Unuk watershed mine site to the mill and tailings site on the Nass watershed (the Treaty side). The tunnels will transport 130,000 tons of coarse ore per day via automated train, along with fuel pipelines and electrical lines, linked by 76 crosscuts.

The new amendment omits any reference to mine components cited in the 2014 preliminary economic feasibility study, including open pits, underground mines, waste rock piles, or requirements for extensive water treatment.

The twinned tunnels are the single largest component of the full mine plan and account for an estimated $2 billion out of the $5.5 billion estimated cost to construct the entire KSM project.

 

By separating the tunnels from the rest of the project, Seabridge Gold sidesteps the requirement to conduct a cumulative environmental impact assessment.

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HIGHER ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS AND FEWER SAFEGUARDS

Proposed changes include:
 

• Construction of a temporary water treatment plant to treat and release wastewater into Mitchell Creek, just upstream of the Unuk River.
   

• Adding 29 ha (72 acres) of land disturbance in the Unuk watershed, with Potentially Acid Generating muck incorporated into permanent waste rock storage facilities.
   

• No surface water quality monitoring on the Unuk River. No monitoring stations for groundwater, benthic organisms, sediment, or fish.
   

• Removal of effluent limits for selenium — a pollutant that is highly toxic to fish.
   

• 80 L/s (21 gallons/sec or 1,260 gal/min) expected to be discharged into Mitchell Creek (permit already approved despite risks.)
   

• Use of acid-leaching rock for road construction.
   

• Request for three new wastewater discharge points into surface waters.
   

• No direct monitoring of nitrate pollution from explosives. Pollution limits estimated, while continuing the use of highly soluble ANFO explosives.
   

• Dam failure rated as “low-risk”
   

• Topsoil stockpile is unsuitable for reclamation due to acid-generating properties and elevated levels of heavy metals.