A small Canadian First Nation and an Indigenous group in Alaska each have challenged a British Columbia permit decision for a massive mining project upstream of two Southeast Alaska communities.

The challenges, filed last week in British Columbia’s Supreme Court, call for legal reviews of the provincial government’s decision earlier this year to let a Canadian company hang on, indefinitely, to a key environmental permit.

Seabridge Gold, a Toronto-based company, has been pushing for years to advance what it describes as the largest undeveloped gold project in the world, known as KSM. It would involve a complex of open-pit and underground mines across four mineral deposits buried in the rugged British Columbia mountains in the Unuk and Nass River watersheds.

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Both rivers bear salmon, and the Unuk flows southwest into Alaska, near the city of Ketchikan and the Tsimshian community of Metlakatla, where some residents are concerned about environmental and cultural impacts from mining.

The tribally led Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission and a British Columia conservation group, SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, jointly filedone of the challenges. It argues that the provincial government was wrong to deem KSM “substantially started” – a decision that makes the key permit permanent, instead of expiring in 2026.

The Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation in northwest B.C. filed a separate challengesaying that the province failed in its legal duty to consult with the First Nation. In its challenge, the First Nation said Seabridge intended to locate its large mine waste site on the nation’s traditional territory and that the province and Seabridge had not meaningfully addressed their concerns.

Seabridge Gold has financial agreements with two other, larger First Nations in the region, the Nisga’a and Tahltan, which formed a partnership last year to participate in the project.

CBC reported a Seabridge executive saying that Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha’s rights to the area have not been recognized by the province. The executive said, rather, that the area is recognized as part of Tahltan territory and also is contained in a Nisga’a treaty, according to the report.

The Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha cite a 2023 letter from the province with an updated territorial map that encompasses the area in question.

“Seabridge’s application for a ‘substantially started’ determination was widely supported by the communities of northwest British Columbia, including Indigenous communities,” Rudi Fronk, Seabridge’s chief executive, said in a statement. “TSKLH were provided the relevant information early and participated in the province’s review process, including submitting comments for the province’s consideration.”

Northern Journal contributor Max Graham can be reached at max@northernjournal.com. He’s interested in any and all mining related stories, as well as introductory meetings with people in and around the industry.

This article was originally published in Northern Journal, a newsletter from Nathaniel Herz. Subscribe at this link.

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