B.C. court finds province didn't properly consult First Nation on northwest gold mine

The Law Courts building, which is home to B.C. Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, is seen in Vancouver, on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)

VANCOUVER — A British Columbia court has ruled that the provincial government did not properly consult with a First Nation before a determination about a major undeveloped gold mine that the nation says “effectively greenlit” the project.

The B.C. Supreme Court says the province did not satisfy its duty to consult the Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation in northwestern B.C. before declaring Seabridge Gold’s KSM Mine had been “substantially started” since an environmental assessment certificate was issued in 2014.

The “substantially started” declaration meant the project did not need a new environmental assessment.

Justice Emily Burke says that the determination needs to go back to the Ministry of Environment to reconsider, with the nation given 90 days to present submissions to the province.

The KSM Mine has been called the largest undeveloped gold mining project in the world, and Seabridge Gold says it has spent $1.2 billion on the site, including $208 million since it applied for “substantially started” status in January 2024.

The province granted the determination in July of that year, but the First Nation challenged the decision, saying it was not properly consulted and a man-made pond designed to collect wastewater from the mine would be placed in the nation’s traditional territory.

Chief Darlene Simpson says in a release that the First Nation is pleased with the court’s 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,” Simpson says in the statement.

The province said proper consultation did take place and it wasn’t required to “formally assess the strength” of the nation’s territorial claims as part of the determination process.

The Ministry of Environment did not immediately provide a response to the court ruling.

Seabridge Gold chief executive Rudi Fronk says in a statement that the company is “satisfied” that the court also found the substantial-start determination to be reasonable, and work on the mine project will continue while the province undertakes the reconsideration.

“Meanwhile, the permanent physical improvements we have made at KSM which were considered appropriate for the determination have been significantly enhanced,” Fronk says. “We remain appreciative of the continued support of the Nisga’a and Tahltan Nations, and the Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs Office, for KSM.”

The company has said that the Nisga’a and Tahltan support the project and the original substantially-started determination.

This report by Chuck Chiang of The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2026.