NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
You could say Seabridge Gold (TSX:SEA) has been distracted from its Courageous Lake gold project lately.

A drilling rig on Seabridge Gold's Courageous Lake gold project approximately 280 km northwest of Yellowknife in 2010. Exploration on the property has slowed thanks to slump in the price of gold and the company's large project in northwestern B.C. - photo courtesy of Seabridge Gold

The company's other advanced project, the $5-billion KSM (Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell) gold and copper project in northwestern B.C. has been advancing by strides.

KSM is described by Seabridge CEO Rudi Fronk as one of the largest gold projects undertaken in Canada, with proven and probable gold reserves adding up to 38.2 million ounces of gold and 9.9 billion pounds of copper. Further exploration this summer has continued to add to the resource potential of the deposit.

The B.C. project is already permitted for pre-construction, and received approval under the B.C. environmental agency earlier this summer with a federal decision expected to arrive in November.

"KSM is a monster," Fronk told News/North. "It's one of the largest undeveloped gold reserve in the world today in one of the world's safest jurisdictions."

"We're seeing interest not only from gold companies but from base-metal companies as well."

Courageous Lake has a 2012 preliminary feasibility study in place showing proven and probable reserves of 6.5 million ounces of gold, with an average annual production of 385,000 ounces at a cash operating cost of $780 per ounce and a mine-life of 15 years.

Work last year on the project added almost a half million ounces of inferred gold to the project thanks to discoveries at the Walsh Lake zone on the property.

"Last year, we were successful in finding a new deposit called Walsh Lake," Fronk said.

"It came in at 50 per cent higher grade than our existing deposit at Courageous Lake.

"We did geophysical work to identify other targets like Walsh Lake along the greenstone belt. We have a few opportunities we want to go in a drill test."

But with more than 15 million ounces of measured gold reserves at KSM, and a little more than 1 million ounces measured at Courageous, its not difficult to understand why northern B.C. is getting most of Seabridge's attention at the moment.

"We've gone through significant de-risking there with the environmental assessment, consulting with First Nations and engineering," Fronk said.

"If we're successful there, it bodes well for what we can do with Courageous Lake next."

Fronk said he hopes financing for KSM can be in place by April 2015, but as for any gold project at the major financing stage, the market remains the biggest challenge.

"Right now, the market conditions for gold, and a lesser extent copper, are not that great," Fronk said.

"It remains a tough environment."

Despite the potential at KSM, Fronk said Courageous remains a key asset for the company which they have no intention of leaving dormant indefinitely.

"Courageous Lake is our ace in the hole," Fronk said.

"Our focus right now is to get the job done at KSM," he added.

"That will free up resources to get back aggressively at Courageous Lake.

"The bottom line is we still think very highly of Courageous Lake and want to get back there working aggressively.

"It's the future."