The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that a key regulatory decision allowing the $5.3-billion KSM gold-and-copper mine to move ahead must be revisited because a First Nation wasn’t adequately consulted.
In July 2024, the province determined that the project had “substantially started,” meaning its environmental approval certificate remains in place for the life of the mine.
The Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation and the SkeenaWild Conservation Trust had challenged the substantially started decision.
If a project is determined not to be substantially started, it must complete a new, lengthy environmental assessment.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Emily Burke ruled that before the Environment Ministry reconsiders the substantially started decision, the province must consult with the Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation, giving them 90 days’ notice to present written submissions.
The Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation (TSKLH), which has about 60 members, welcomed the decision.
“We’re relieved the province is finally required to consult properly, based on its own conclusion that our territory bears the brunt of the environmental risks of the toxic waste dump for the world’s largest gold mine, threatening our pristine traditional waterways,” Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Chief Darlene Simpson said in a written statement.
The KSM mine project, owned by Toronto-based Seabridge Gold and about 65 kilometres northwest of Stewart, in northwestern B.C., has been touted as one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-and-gold projects.
Seabridge chairman and CEO Rudi Fronk said in a written statement that work at KSM would continue during the consultation process and reconsideration of the substantially started determination.
Read the full story at Financial Times: Judge orders review of key approval for $5-billion KSM mine over First Nation consultation failures.