Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 17, 2023) - Seabridge Gold (TSX: SEA) (NYSE: SA) ("Seabridge") reported today that Tudor Gold Corp is requesting that a certain license of occupation (the "Licence") and a permit held by Seabridge's wholly owned subsidiary, KSM Mining ULC (KSMCo), be cancelled. The rights conveyed by this Licence and the relevant activities authorized by this permit were initially conveyed and authorized in September 2014, and include rights and authorizations to engage in certain activities on land to which Tudor only acquired mineral rights in 2016. Tudor is claiming that, as a matter of law, the government did not have the power to issue this License and permit. Tudor also argues that the License and permit destroy the value of their claims. Seabridge is of the view that Tudor's arguments are frivolous and without merit.
Mines Act permit M-245 authorizes various activities, including activities on claims held by Tudor along the route of the tunnels connecting the east and west sides of the KSM Project (the "MTT"). The License provides KSMCo the right to occupy the area in which it intends to construct the MTT for the purpose of constructing the MTT. Once the MTT are constructed, the Licence will be converted into a statutory right of way for the entire length of the MTT, including the 12.5 km of the MTT that pass through mineral claims owned by Tudor.
Commenting on the application by Tudor, Seabridge's CEO Rudi Fronk, stated, "The argument that the B.C. Government does not have the power to grant these authorizations is absurd. These types of authorizations are commonly used by the B.C. government to manage activities that take place on the government-owned land base. The Licence and authorization of the activities authorized by Permit M-245 to which Tudor objects have been in place for almost a decade and were granted after a thorough regulatory process that included participation by First Nations as well as Tudor's joint venture partners, American Creek Resources Ltd. and Teuton Resources Corp., who were the owners of the claims at the time."
Seabridge considers Tudor's submission particularly unjustifiable given that the authorized activities and rights held by KSMCo that Tudor is claiming amount to the destruction of its property rights were in place and publicly known at the time Tudor acquired its interest in the Treaty Creek Property in June 2016.
Accordingly, Seabridge will actively pursue the dismissal of Tudor's application.