Seabridge Gold Inc. 1-1 0952880200-REP-R0004-00 Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Prefeasibility Study Update 2011 1.0 SUMMARY 1.1 I NTRODUCTION Seabridge Gold Inc.'s (Seabridge) Kerr, Sulphurets, and Mitchell (KSM) Project involves the development of a major gold-copper deposit located in northwest British Columbia (BC) off Highway 37, approximately 68 km by air north-northwest of Stewart, BC. The KSM Project includes four major mineralized zones, identified as the Mitchell, Kerr, Sulphurets, and Iron Cap deposits. The deposits contain significant gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum mineralization. This National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) compliant report on the KSM property has been prepared by Wardrop, A Tetra Tech Company (Wardrop) for Seabridge, and has been based on work produced by Wardrop and the following independent consultants: Resource Modeling Inc. (RMI) Moose Mountain Technical Services (MMTS) WN Brazier Associates Inc. (Brazier) Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd. (KCBL) Bosche Ventures Ltd. (BVL) McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd. (McElhanney) BGC Engineering Inc. (BGC) EBA Engineering Consultants Ltd. (EBA) Thyssen Mining Construction of Canada Ltd. (Thyssen) Allnorth Consultants Ltd. (Allnorth) Rescan Environmental Services Ltd. (Rescan). Mr. Michael J. Lechner (P.Geo., RPG, CPG) of RMI visited the property most recently from July 29 to August 1, 2009, and is the Qualified Person (QP) for all matters relating to the mineral resource estimate. Mr. Jim Gray (P.Eng.) of MMTS visited the property on September 25, 2008, and September 10, 2009. He is the QP for matters relating to mining, mining capital , and mine operating costs.
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1 . 0 S U M M A R Y - Seabridge GoldUsing MineSight® software, RMI created a three-dimensional (3D) computerized block models for the Kerr, Sulphurets, Mitchell, and Iron Cap zones.
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Seabridge Gold Inc. 1-1 0952880200-REP-R0004-00Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Prefeasibility Study Update 2011
1 . 0 S U M M A R Y
1 . 1 I N T R O D U C T I O N
Seabridge Gold Inc.'s (Seabridge) Kerr, Sulphurets, and Mitchell (KSM) Project
involves the development of a major gold-copper deposit located in northwest British
Columbia (BC) off Highway 37, approximately 68 km by air north-northwest of
Stewart, BC. The KSM Project includes four major mineralized zones, identified as
the Mitchell, Kerr, Sulphurets, and Iron Cap deposits. The deposits contain
significant gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum mineralization.
This National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) compliant report on the KSM property
has been prepared by Wardrop, A Tetra Tech Company (Wardrop) for Seabridge,
and has been based on work produced by Wardrop and the following independent
consultants:
Resource Modeling Inc. (RMI)
Moose Mountain Technical Services (MMTS)
WN Brazier Associates Inc. (Brazier)
Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd. (KCBL)
Bosche Ventures Ltd. (BVL)
McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd. (McElhanney)
BGC Engineering Inc. (BGC)
EBA Engineering Consultants Ltd. (EBA)
Thyssen Mining Construction of Canada Ltd. (Thyssen)
Allnorth Consultants Ltd. (Allnorth)
Rescan Environmental Services Ltd. (Rescan).
Mr. Michael J. Lechner (P.Geo., RPG, CPG) of RMI visited the property most
recently from July 29 to August 1, 2009, and is the Qualified Person (QP) for all
matters relating to the mineral resource estimate.
Mr. Jim Gray (P.Eng.) of MMTS visited the property on September 25, 2008, and
September 10, 2009. He is the QP for matters relating to mining, mining capital, and
mine operating costs.
Seabridge Gold Inc. 1-2 0952880200-REP-R0004-00Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Prefeasibility Study Update 2011
Mr. Jianhui (John) Huang (Ph.D, P.Eng.) of Wardrop visited the property on
September 16, 2008, and is the QP for matters relating to the metallurgical testing
review, mineral processing, process operating costs, and overall report preparation.
Mr. Hassan Ghaffari (P.Eng.) is the QP for matters relating to infrastructure capital
cost estimate, financial analysis, and process related infrastructure.
Mr. Harold Bosche (P.Eng.) of BVL visited the property on September 16, 2008 and
is the QP for matters relating to the rope conveyor, slurry pipeline system, tailing
delivery, reclaim pumping and piping systems, and associated capital costs.
Mr. Neil Brazier (P.Eng.) of Brazier visited the property on September 16, 2008, and
is the QP for matters relating to power supply, energy recovery plants, and
associated costs.
Mr. Graham Parkinson (P.Geo.) of KCBL visited the property from July 26 to
August 2, 2010, as well as during the summers of 2008 and 2009, and autumn 2007.
He is the QP for matters relating to the geotechnical design of tunnels, dams, and
water management, as well as the capital, operating, and closure costs for cyclone
sand raises of tailing dams, the water treatment plant (WTP), and temporary acid
rock drainage (ARD) and sediment control.
Mr. R.W. (Bob) Parolin (P.Eng.) of McElhanney visited the property on June 21, 2008
and during the summers of 2009 and 2010, and is the QP for matters relating to main
and temporary access roads and associated costs.
Mr. Kevin Jones (P.Eng.) of EBA visited the property on September 24 to 26, 2009
and is the QP for matters relating to winter access road and associated costs.
Mr. Greg McKillop (P.Geo.) of Rescan visited the property on June 9-10 and July 29,
2008, August 26, 2009, and July 9, 2010. He is the QP for matters relating to
environmental considerations.
Mr. Warren Newcomen (P.Eng) of BGC visited the property on June 1 to 5, 2009 and
July 26 to 28, 2010, and is the QP for matters relating to the open pit slope stability.
Mr. Adrian Bodolan (P.Eng) of Thyssen visited the property from September 9 to 10,
2009, and is the QP for matters relating to all tunnel design and costs.
Mr. Darby Kreitz (P.Eng) of Allnorth visited the site on April 14, 2010, and is the QP
for matters relating to construction cost estimates for the water storage dam and
tailing starter dams, surface diversions, excavations, and earthworks.
The capital and operating costs for this Prefeasibility Study (PFS) have been
estimated to a +25/-10% level of accuracy. All dollar figures presented in this section
are stated in US dollars, unless otherwise specified. The Bank of Canada three-year
average exchange rate of Cdn$1.00 to US$0.9285 has been used, unless otherwise
specified.
Seabridge Gold Inc. 1-3 0952880200-REP-R0004-00Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Prefeasibility Study Update 2011
1 . 2 G E O L O G Y
The KSM property is located in northwest BC at a latitude and longitude of
approximately 56.52°N and 130.25°W, respectively. The property is situated about
950 km northwest of Vancouver, 68 km by air north-northwest of Stewart, BC and
21 km south-southeast of the Eskay Creek Mine.
The property lies within an area known as “Stikinia”, which is a terrain consisting of
Triassic and Jurassic volcanic arcs that were accreted onto the Paleozoic basement.
Early Jurassic sub-volcanic intrusive complexes are scattered through the Stikinia
terrain and are host to numerous precious and base metal rich hydrothermal
systems. These include several well known copper-gold porphyry systems such as
Galore Creek, Red Chris, Kemess, and Mt. Milligan.
Seabridge entered into the district to secure the previously identified resources of the
Kerr and Sulphurets zones. After having been granted an option by Seabridge to
earn an interest at KSM, between 2002 and 2005, Falconbridge Ltd.
(Falconbridge)/Noranda Inc. (Noranda) conducted target evaluation and testing of
several occurrences on the property. That work focused on exploration concepts
deemed to be appropriate for copper-rich porphyry targets. In 2006,
Falconbridge/Noranda agreed to sell its option back to Seabridge having recognized
that the district’s potential favoured gold-rich copper porphyry targets. Seabridge
followed-up on this previous work delineating the Mitchell Zone, expanding the
Sulphurets Zone, and re-evaluating the Kerr Zone.
The Kerr deposit is a strongly-deformed copper-gold porphyry, where copper and
gold grades have been upgraded due to remobilization of metals during later and/or
possibly syn-intrusive deformation. Alteration is the result of a relatively shallow,
long lived hydrothermal system generated by intrusion of monzonite. Subsequent
deformation along the Sulphurets thrust fault was diverted into the Kerr area along
pre-existing structures. The mineralized area forms a fairly continuous, north-south
trending west dipping irregular body measuring about 1,700 m long and up to 200 m
thick.
The Sulphurets deposit is comprised of two distinct zones referred to as the Raewyn
Copper-Gold Zone and the Breccia Gold Zone. The Raewyn Copper-Gold Zone
hosts mostly porphyry style disseminated chalcopyrite and associated gold
mineralization in moderately quartz stockworked, chlorite-biotite-sericite-magnetite
altered volcanics. The Raewyn Copper-Gold Zone strikes northeasterly and dips
about 45° to the northwest. The Breccia Gold Zone hosts mostly gold-bearing pyritic
material mineralization with minor chalcopyrite and sulfosalts in a K-feldspar-
siliceous hydrothermal breccia that apparently crosscuts the Raewyn Copper-Gold
Zone. The Breccia Gold Zone strikes northerly and dips westerly.
The Mitchell Zone is underlain by foliated, schistose, intrusive, volcanic, and clastic
rocks that are exposed in an erosional window below the shallow north dipping
Mitchell Thrust Fault. These rocks tend to be intensely altered and characterized by
Seabridge Gold Inc. 1-4 0952880200-REP-R0004-00Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Prefeasibility Study Update 2011
abundant sericite and pyrite with numerous quartz stockwork veins and sheeted
quartz veins (phyllic alteration) that are often deformed and flattened. Towards the
west end of the zone, the extent and intensity of phyllic alteration diminishes and
chlorite-magnetite alteration becomes more dominant along with lower contained
metal grades. In the core of the zone, pyrite content ranges between 1 to 20%,
averages 5%, and typically occurs as fine disseminations. Gold and copper tends to
be relatively low-grade but is dispersed over a very large area and related to
hydrothermal activity associated with Early Jurassic hypabyssal porphyritic
intrusions. In general, within the currently drilled limits of the Mitchell Zone, gold and
copper grades are remarkably consistent between drill holes, which is consistent with
a large, stable, and long-lived hydrothermal system.
The Iron Cap Zone, which is located about 2,300 m northeast of the Mitchell Zone, is
well exposed and consists of intensely altered intrusive, sedimentary, and volcanics.
The Iron Cap deposit is a separate, distinct mineralized zone within the KSM district.
It is thought to be related to the other mineralized zones but differs in that much of
the host rock is hydrothermally altered intrusive (porphyritic monzonite to diorite)
rather than altered volcanics and sediments. There is a high degree of silicification
that overprints earlier potassic and chloritic alteration. Intense phyllic alteration and
high density of stockwork veining, which are pervasive at the nearby Mitchell Zone,
are less pervasive at Iron Cap. The surface expression of the Iron Cap Zone
measures about 1,500 m (northeast-southwest) by 600 m (northwest-southeast).
Using MineSight® software, RMI created a three-dimensional (3D) computerized
block models for the Kerr, Sulphurets, Mitchell, and Iron Cap zones. In general, RMI
used the same basic estimation techniques that were developed for these deposits in
previous years.
The Kerr Zone has been delineated by 29,020 m of core drilling from 155 holes that
are spaced between 50 to 100 m apart. The majority of the drilling data were
collected by Placer Dome Inc. (Placer Dome) and previous operators. The Kerr
mineralized zone is characterized by finely disseminated, fracture and veinlet
controlled chalcopyrite with minor bornite and tennanite associated with an early
Jurassic porphyritic monzonite that was intruded into Triassic sedimentary and
volcanic rocks. Extensive and intensive hydrothermal alteration of the intrusive rocks
and surrounding rocks produced a north-south trending zone of sericite-quartz-pyrite
rocks. This hydrothermal alteration trend defines the limits of the copper-gold
mineral system. Block gold, copper, and silver grades were estimated using inverse
distance and nearest neighbour methods.
The Sulphurets Zone has been delineated by about 25,281 m of core drilling from
94 diamond core holes that are spaced at intervals ranging between 50 to 100 m.
Seabridge (plus Falconbridge) and Placer Dome collected about 60% and 22% of the
total Sulphurets drilling, respectively; the remaining data were collected by previous
operators. The mineralized zone, as currently recognized, consists of two distinct
systems referred to as the Raewyn Copper-Gold and Breccia Gold Zones, which are
exposed within the lower plate of the Sulphurets Thrust Fault. The Raewyn Copper-
Seabridge Gold Inc. 1-5 0952880200-REP-R0004-00Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Prefeasibility Study Update 2011
Gold Zone hosts porphyry style disseminated chalcopyrite and associated gold in
altered sill-like intrusions and volcanic rocks. Hydrothermal alteration in these rocks
is characterized by sericite-pyrite-quartz introduction associated with stockwork
veins. Gold and copper are concentrated in the stockwork veins and disseminated in
the wallrock. The Breccia Gold Zone hosts mostly gold bearing pyrite with minor
chalcopyrite and sulfosalts in the matrix to a breccia that cross cuts the intrusions of
the Raewyn Copper-Gold Zone. Block gold and copper grades were estimated using
inverse distance and nearest neighbour methods.
There were 139 diamond core holes used for the Mitchell block model that were
spaced at approximately 75 to100 m intervals, totalling 51,533 m of data. Gold,
copper, silver, and molybdenum grades were estimated with 15-m-long drill hole
composites using inverse distance and nearest neighbour methods. RMI validated
the estimated block grades using visual and statistical methods. It is RMI’s opinion
that the Mitchell grade models are globally unbiased and represents a reasonable
estimate of in-situ resources. Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Mineral Resources
were classified for a portion of the estimated blocks based on mineralized continuity
and the distance to drilling data coupled with the number of holes that were used in
the estimate.
Gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum grades were estimated for the Iron Cap Zone
using 52 diamond core holes totalling about 17,790 m of data. The majority of the
drilling data (87%) was collected in 2009 and 2010 by Seabridge. The block grades
were estimated using inverse distance and nearest-neighbour methods.
A gold equivalent grade (AuEQ) was calculated for the estimated block grades for all
four zones using a gold price of US$650/oz at 70% recovery and a copper price of
US$2.00/lb at 85% recovery. These results are summarized at a 0.50 g/t AuEQ cut-
off grade (COG) in Table 1.1.
1 . 3 P R O P E R T Y D E S C R I P T I O N A N D L O C A T I O N
The KSM Project area is located in the coastal mountains of north-western BC. The
proposed pit areas lie within the headwaters of Sulphurets Creek, which is a tributary
of the Unuk River. The proposed Tailing Management Facility (TMF) will be located
primarily within a tributary of Teigen Creek. Teigen and Treaty Creeks are tributaries
of the Bell-Irving River, which is itself a major tributary of the Nass River. Both the
Nass and Unuk rivers flow to the Pacific Ocean. Figure 1.1 is a general location map
of the project area.
The KSM Project comprises three discontinuous claim blocks. The claim blocks are
referred to as:
1. the KSM claim block
2. the Seabee/Tina claim block
Seabridge Gold Inc. 1-6 0952880200-REP-R0004-00Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Prefeasibility Study Update 2011
3. the KSM placer claim block.
The first two claim blocks (KSM and Seabee/Tina) contain 115 mineral claims,
consisting of both cell and legacy claims. The total area of the three claim blocks
covers an area of approximately 44,120 ha. The Seabee/Tina claim block is located
about 19 km northeast of the Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell-Iron Cap mineralized zones.
The Seabee/Tina claim block is currently under consideration as the site for the
infrastructure. The claims are 100% owned by Seabridge Gold Inc. Placer Dome
(now Barrick Gold Corp.) retains a capped 1% net smelter royalty on the property
that is capped at $4.5 M.
Annual holding costs for all of the cell claims (mineral and placer) are approximately
$172,988. In 2007, assessment work was filed to advance the year of expiry to
2018. Assessment work was completed on most of the Seabee property claims in
2010 with that work filed in February 2011, which advanced expiry dates to 2017.
The placer claims have been kept in good standing by paying fees in lieu of
completing assessment work. The Claim Group Inc. (TCG) was contracted to act as
a land manager and mineral tenure agent for Seabridge.
Seabridge Gold Inc. 1-7 0952880200-REP-R0004-00Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Prefeasibility Study Update 2011
Figure 1.1 General Location Map
1 . 4 A C C E S S I B I L I T Y , C L I M A T E , L O C A L R E S O U R C E S ,
I N F R A S T R U C T U R E , A N D P H Y S I O G R A P H Y
The property lies in the rugged coastal mountains of northwest BC, with elevations
ranging from 520 metres above sea level (masl) in Sulphurets Creek Valley, to over
2,300 m at the highest peaks. Valley glaciers fill the upper portions of the larger
valleys from just below tree line and upwards. The glaciers have been retreating for
at least the last several decades. Aerial photos indicate that the Mitchell Glacier has
retreated approximately one kilometre laterally and several hundred metres vertically
since 1991.
Seabridge Gold Inc. 1-8 0952880200-REP-R0004-00Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Prefeasibility Study Update 2011
The deposit portion of the property is drained by the Sulphurets and Mitchell
watersheds that empty into the Unuk River, which flows westward to the Pacific
Ocean through Alaska. The process plant site and the TMF drain into the Bell-Irving
watershed, which is a tributary to the Nass River. The tree line lies at about
1,240 masl, below which a mature forest of mostly hemlock and balsam fir abruptly
develops. Fish are not known to inhabit the Sulphurets and Mitchell watersheds.
Large wildlife, such as deer and moose, are rare due to the rugged topography and
restricted access; however, bears and mountain goats are common.
The climate is generally typical of a temperate or northern coastal rainforest, with
sub-arctic conditions at high elevations. Precipitation is high, with an annual total
precipitation (rainfall and snow equivalents) estimated to be between the historical
averages for the Eskay Creek Mine and Stewart, BC. This range extends from 1,373
to 2,393 mm (data to 2005). The length of the snow-free season varies from about
May through November at lower elevations, and from July through September at
higher elevations. The property can be accessed only via helicopter.
There are deep-water loading facilities for shipping bulk mineral concentrates located
in Stewart. The facilities are currently used by the Huckleberry mine. The nearest
railway is the Canadian National Railroad (CNR) Yellowhead route, which is located
approximately 220 km southeast of the property. This line runs east-west, and can
deliver concentrate to deep water ports near Prince Rupert and Vancouver, BC.
The property is located on Crown land; therefore, all surface and access rights are
granted by the Mineral Tenure Act and the Mining Right of Way Act. There are no
settlements or privately owned land in the area; there is limited commercial
recreational activity in the form of helicopter skiing and guided fishing adventures.
The closest power transmission lines run along the Highway 37A corridor to Stewart,
approximately 50 km southeast of the property. The Eskay Creek mine produced its
own diesel-generated power. There are proposals to develop local hydroelectric
power sources and expand electrical transmission service from Terrace, BC, along
Highway 37, which will provide electrical power to the project.
1 . 5 H I S T O R Y
The modern exploration history of the area began in the 1960s, with brief programs
conducted by Newmont, Granduc, Phelps Dodge, and the Meridian Syndicate. All of
these programs were focused on gold exploration. Various explorers were attracted
to this area due to the numerous large, prominent pyritic gossans that are exposed in
alpine areas. There is evidence that prospectors were active in the area prior to
1935. The Sulphurets Zone was first drilled by Esso Minerals Canada Ltd. (Esso
Minerals) in 1969; Kerr was first drilled by Brinco in 1985, and Mitchell was first
drilled by Newhawk Gold Mines Ltd. (Newhawk Gold) in 1991.
In 1989, Placer Dome acquired a 100% interest in the Kerr Zone from Western
Canadian Mines; in 1990, Placer Dome acquired the adjacent Sulphurets property
Seabridge Gold Inc. 1-9 0952880200-REP-R0004-00Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Prefeasibility Study Update 2011
from Newhawk Gold. The Sulphurets property also hosts the Mitchell Zone and
other mineral occurrences. In 2000, Seabridge acquired a 100% interest from Placer
Dome in both the Kerr and Sulphurets properties, subject to capped royalties.
There is no recorded mineral production, nor evidence of it, from the property.
Immediately west of the property, small-scale Placer gold mining has occurred below
the Sulphurets and Mitchell zones. On the Bruceside property, immediately to the
east, limited underground development and test mining was undertaken in the 1990s
on narrow, gold-silver bearing quartz veins at the West Zone. This property is
currently owned by Pretium Resources Inc.
1 . 6 G E O L O G I C A L S E T T I N G
The region lies within “Stikinia”, a terrain of Triassic and Jurassic volcanic arcs that
were accreted onto the Paleozoic basement of the North American continental
margin in the Middle Jurassic. Stikinia is the largest of several fault bounded,
allochthonous terrains within the Intermontane belt, which lies between the post-
accretionary, Tertiary intrusives of the Coast belt and continental margin sedimentary
prisms of the Foreland (Rocky Mountain) belt. In the Kerr-Sulphurets area, Stikinia is
dominated by variably deformed oceanic island arc complexes of the Triassic Stuhini
and Jurassic Hazelton groups. An extensive basin formed eastward of the property
in the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous that filled with thick accumulations of clastic
sedimentary rocks of the Bowser Group. Folding and thrusting due to compressional
tectonics in the late Cretaceous generated the area’s current structural features.
Remnants of Quaternary basaltic eruptions occur throughout the region.
Early Jurassic sub-volcanic intrusive complexes are common in the Stikinia terrain,
and several host well-known precious and base metal rich hydrothermal systems.
These include copper-gold porphyry zones such as Galore Creek, Red Chris,
Kemess, Mt. Milligan, and Kerr-Sulphurets. In addition, there are a number of related
polymetallic zones including skarns at Premier, subaerial to subaqueous epithermal
veins and volcanogenic massive sulfide zones at Eskay Creek, Snip, Bruceside, and
Granduc.
1 . 7 R E S O U R C E S
RMI constructed 3D block models for the Kerr, Sulphurets, Mitchell, and Iron Cap
zones. Various 3D wireframes were used to constrain the estimate of block grades
(e.g. lithology, alteration, structural, and grade envelopes). These wireframes were
used by RMI in a multi-pass inverse distance grade interpolation plan. The
estimated block grades were validated using visual and statistical methods. Based
on those results, RMI believes that the grade models are globally unbiased and
suitable for subsequent pit optimization studies. The estimated block grades were
classified into Measured (Mitchell only), Indicated, and Inferred Mineral Resource
categories based on mineralized continuity, along with distance to data in conjunction
Seabridge Gold Inc. 1-10 0952880200-REP-R0004-00Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Prefeasibility Study Update 2011
with the number of drill holes that were used to estimate block grades. The resource
information by RMI was reported in a Technical Report filed on SEDAR March 29,
2011.
Table 1.1 summarizes the estimated Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Mineral
Resources for each zone. The Mineral Resources tabulated in Table 1.1 were not
constrained by conceptual pits, although RMI did generate a series of conceptual pits
for each zone to test the robustness of the deposits.
Table 1.1 Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Mineral Resources for KSM
The proven and probable reserves of 38.5 M oz of gold (2.192 Bt at 0.546 g of gold
per tonne) are derived from total Measured and Indicated Resources of 45.3 M oz of
gold (2.549 Bt at 0.55 g of gold per tonne) and include allowances for mining losses
and dilution.
A summary of the production schedule is provided in Table 1.14. The production
schedule is based on the pits being mined in the following years:
The Mitchell pits are mined from Year -2 to Year 40.
The Sulphurets pits are mined from Year 6 to Year 13.
The Kerr pit is mined from Year 14 to Year 36.
The Iron Cap pit is mined from Year 38 to Year 52.
All mining of currently defined proven and probable reserves is completed in
Year 52.
Seabridge Gold Inc. 1-20 0952880200-REP-R0004-00Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Prefeasibility Study Update 2011
Table 1.14 Summarized Production Schedule
Note: Waste mined in the production schedule in Table 1.14 includes re-handled waste and waste mined from borrow pit sources for construction purposes.
Seabridge Gold Inc. 1-21 0952880200-REP-R0004-00Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) Prefeasibility Study Update 2011
Mining operations will be typical open-pit operations in mountainous terrain in
western Canada, with typical open-pit mining methods and equipment. There is
considerable operating and technical expertise, services, and support for the
proposed operations both in western Canada and in the local area. The project is a
large-capacity operation that utilizes large-scale equipment for the major operating
areas in order to generate high productivities, and reduce unit and overall mining
costs. Large-scale equipment will also reduce the labour requirement on site and will
dilute the fixed overhead costs for the mine operations. Much of the general
overhead for the mine operations can be minimized if the number of production fleets
and the labour requirements are minimized.
The mine plan and production schedule will undergo further refinement during the
Feasibility Study. Additional geotechnical information on high wall capabilities should
confirm the pit slopes and optimization results. Further details on rock storage
management, water management, and final land use will be developed for the
Environmental Assessment application, the result of which will impact the mine plan.
These elements, along with other optimization details, will be integrated into the
feasibility-stage mine planning.
1 . 1 3 M E T A L L U R G I C A L T E S T R E V I E W
The KSM Project includes four major mineralized zones, identified as the Mitchell,
Kerr, Sulphurets and Iron Cap deposits. The deposits contain significant gold,
copper, silver, and molybdenum mineralization.
Several wide-ranging metallurgical test programs were carried out between 2007 and
early 2011, to assess the metallurgical responses of the mineral materials, especially
the samples from the Mitchell deposit. The metallurgical tests included:
mineralogy, flotation, cyanidation and grindability testwork by G&T
Metallurgical Services Ltd. (G&T) and SGS Minerals Services (SGS)