Toronto- and New York-listed Seabridge Gold on Thursday announced a $150-million fundraising agreement with Sprott Resource Streaming and Royalty for its Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) copper and gold project, in British Columbia.

Under the agreement, Sprott will be granted a 1.2% net smelter royalty on the KSM project.

“This new $150-million in financing, coupled with the $225-million we raised from Sprott and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan last year, provide the capital we believe is needed to achieve substantially started status well before July 2026,” said chairperson and CEO Rudi Fronk.

Achieving the “substantially started” designation would ensure continuity of the KSM project’s approved environmental assessment certificate (EAC) for the life of the project.

The new financing also has the added advantage of cutting time from the construction schedule once a construction decision has been made, Fronk added.

KSM’s estimated low operating costs meant that the royalty would have a minimal impact on projected financial results.

In addition, the funding did not require shareholder dilution, Fronk said.

"Since our original investment last year, we continue to be impressed by the significant progress the Seabridge team is making at KSM. The quality of the engineering and early works is excellent, and their strong relationships with the local indigenous peoples are truly best-in-class. We are very pleased to expand our partnership with Seabridge and further accelerate KSM's development into a world-class mine,” commented Sprott managing partner Michael Harrison.

Yearly, the KSM operation will produce an average of 1.4-million ounces of gold, 251-million pounds of copper, 3.8-million ounces of silver and 2.1-million pounds of molybdenum.

A 2022 prefeasibility study estimates a capital requirement of $9.6-billion for the mine.