Skeena court win overturns ‘incomprehensible’ 2022 tailings ruling

Skeena Resources (TSX: SKE; NYSE: SKE) has successfully appealed a B.C. Supreme Court decision regarding ownership of waste rock and tailings from its past-producing Eskay Creek mine in British Columbia.

In 2022, both the province’s Chief Gold Commissioner and its Supreme Court recognized an individual named Richard Mill, who had staked mineral claims below the company’s Albino lake facility, as the owner of the Eskay Creek material. At the time, Skeena’s CEO Walter Coles Jr. called the gold commissioner’s ruling “incomprehensible.” 

The B.C. Court of Appeal overturned the rulings this week.

The dispute centred on whether Skeena relinquished its rights to the Eskay Creek material when it was deposited in the tailings facility. The former Chief Gold Commissioner and Justice Iyer of the B.C. Supreme Court had both ruled in Mill’s favour, citing a 2017 mineral claim grant from the province. 

However, the B.C. Court of Appeal found these decisions to be “clearly and palpably wrong.” The court stated that the province could not grant ownership rights to the Eskay Creek material to Mill as he did not hold those rights at the time. Consequently, the former Chief Gold Commissioner’s decision was wrong.

The matter has now been referred back to the current Chief Gold Commissioner for rehearing and reconsideration.

The Eskay Creek material is not included in Skeena’s resource or reserve statements for Eskay Creek, nor has it been factored into any feasibility studies.

Last month, Skeena secured a US$750-million financing package for the Eskay Creek redevelopment. The mine, located in the province’s famed Golden Triangle, operated as an underground mine from 1994 to 2008.

With the package, the Eskay Creek project is now fully funded. Open-pit production is targeted for the first half of 2027. Annual production will be 320,000 oz. of gold-equivalent during a 12-year mine life, according to a 2023 feasibility study.