B.C. hands Skeena key Eskay Creek permit

Skeena Gold & Silver (TSX: SKE; NYSE: SKE) has picked up a provincial permit for its Eskay Creek gold-silver redevelopment in northwest British Columbia, moving one of Canada’s most closely watched consent-based approvals closer to full construction.

Eskay Creek’s environmental assessment certificate was approved under B.C.’s precedent-setting framework for joint provincial–First Nations permitting. Investors and governments alike want to reduce late-stage surprises by embedding Indigenous approval earlier in the process without lowering environmental standards.

“This leaves the project essentially in a position where we can start full construction in earnest and we’re ready to do so,” CEO Randy Reichert told The Northern Miner on Tuesday. Erecting the grinding mills is to begin “in a little over a week’s time,” he added.

The company has spent more than half the forecast $713-million capital cost to first production due in 2027, Reichert said. The mill would start that April, followed by commercial production in July and full output roughly three months later.

Social licence

Desjardins Securities said it expects the last major provincial authorizations by the end of February. SCP Resource Finance calling the permitting progress a “material de-risking” that strengthens the project’s social licence. Tahltan Band Chief Richard (Rocky) Jackson agreed.

“This creates a new standard for how the province and First Nations work together to shape resource development,” Jackson said in a release.

Skeena’s Toronto-trading shares traded 1.9% higher Wednesday at $46.24, valuing the company at about $5.5 billion.

The Mines Act permit doesn’t end the regulatory road. Environmental Management Act approvals are still needed before the project can proceed, and the province has said decisions are expected soon. Analysts have framed the shift the same way: once the last permits land, the risk moves from permitting to execution.

Prices locked

The company has already locked in pricing on most major components, Reichert said, including much of the mill package, the mining fleet and the permanent camp and that the main challenge now is installing what’s been purchased “on budget and on schedule.”

Early works have reduced the typical construction blowout risks, he argued. “We’ve come out of the ground on a lot of things that quite often tend to go over budget,” Reichert said, pointing to progress on the mill site, pit area, haul roads and water management works.

Industry support

The Eskay approvals underline “momentum” in the province’s mining sector, industry group Mining Association of British Columbia told The Miner on Tuesday.

MABC president and CEO Michael Goehring said the project is to create more than 1,000 construction jobs and support more than 770 operating jobs, adding an estimated $14 billion to B.C.’s gross domestic product and generating about $3.6 billion in government revenue.

Goehring also highlighted the permitting timeline – the environmental assessment was started in August 2024 and referred to provincial and federal decision-makers on Jan. 16 – about 16 months later. “There’s momentum on the permitting front now,” he said. “We can only hope this momentum continues.”

Revenue sharing

The province and the Tahltan Central Government are also entering a mineral tax revenue-sharing agreement, with the first payment available as early as 2027–28.

Skeena has pointed to the scale of consultation leading up to the permits. The assessment process included more than 60 engagement sessions in local communities and more than 500 meetings with the Tahltan Central Government, alongside consultations with other Indigenous groups in B.C. and Alaska.

Last fall, the company opened an on-reserve office in Dease Lake through a new subsidiary, Skeena Tatl’ah Mining, aimed at expanding tax-exempt employment eligibility for qualified Tahltan members and bringing more project jobs “home” to Tahltan Territory, according to a separate press release.

Big deposit

Eskay Creek is a high-grade volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit that Skeena plans to redevelop as an open-pit mine with a 13-year life. The asset is in B.C.’s Golden Triangle and previously operated as an underground mine before closing in 2008.

Proven and probable reserves at Eskay Creek include 39.8 million tonnes grading 2.5 grams gold per tonne and 68.7 grams silver per tonne (3.6 grams gold-equivalent), containing an estimated 33 million oz. of gold and 88 million oz. of silver.

Measured and indicated resources total 50.1 million tonnes grading 2.6 grams gold and 63 grams silver (3.4 grams gold-equivalent), with 4.1 million oz. of gold and 101.4 million oz. of silver.