In response to the recent release of the Rivers Without Borders white paper, Massive Proposed KSM Mine Threatens Alaska – British Columbia Salmon Rivers; we are taking immediate action to respond to misinformation about the Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Project, pointing out that the white paper reflects the opinions of the authors/organization and is not accurate. A detailed response identifying the specific inaccuracies and erroneous information contained in the white paper is currently under development and will be shared publicly on our company website once it is finalized. It should be noted that the white paper contains no new information, just a recycling of old false charges that have been fully disproved by ourselves and independent experts.
Seabridge Gold is committed to sustainably developing all its Projects and would like to take this opportunity to highlight that the KSM Project underwent one of the most comprehensive environmental assessments (EA) ever undertaken in Canada and British Columbia. After a seven-year (2007-2014) review process, which includes 36,000 pages of scientifically rigorous information complied by over 250 independent scientists from across 20 disciplines, independent review of the information by the Canadian and British Columbian Environmental Assessment Agencies, 20 U.S. Federal and Alaska regulatory agencies and the Nisga’a Lisims’ Government and meetings with independent regulators, the KSM Project received approvals under the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (1992) and the Nisga’a Lisims Treaty.
During the EA process, Seabridge conducted hundreds of meetings with community members (Alaska and BC), Treaty and First Nations, including Alaska tribes and responded to 15,000 questions and comments, ensuring that all concerns were acknowledged and addressed. As a result of these meetings and feedback from all participants, Seabridge added over $300 million dollars in design changes to the Project’s capital cost. For Seabridge Gold, protection of the environment in both Canada and the U.S. is a guiding principle behind the design of the KSM Project. We have put the KSM Project through extensive environmental and technical evaluations by independent experts to ensure its operation will not cause harm to the surrounding environment, including waterways and fish.
We believe the objective of Rivers Without Borders is to raise unfounded fears about the KSM Project amongst the public using a false narrative to gain public support for their organization. Seabridge Gold, on several occasions in the past, has sent letters correcting the same misinformation about KSM Project as now published once again by Rivers Without Borders as well as by Greg Knox, Skeena Wild, Guy Archibald, and the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. We also invited them to reach out to us to learn more about the KSM Project and these invitations have gone unanswered. This leads us to believe that the authors and contributors to the new white paper are only interested in spreading misinformation for fund-raising purposes and not in learning real facts about the KSM Project.
Please check back in a few weeks for the response we are drafting to address the inaccuracies in the white paper. In the meantime, you can also refer to the below information to learn accurate facts about the KSM Project:
