VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – TSX- and NSYE-listed project developer Seabridge Gold has closed a C$19.7-million private placement of flow-through shares for exploration this year at its KSM gold/copper project, located 65 km northwest of Stewart, British Columbia.

The company has issued 1.15-million flow-through shares, including an over-allotment option, at a price of C$17.16 each, which reflected a 27.1% premium to the TSX-quoted equity’s closing price on April 10 – the day when the private placement was first announced.

“This year’s exploration programme at KSM will follow up on the tremendous success we achieved last year at KSM’s Iron Cap deposit where inferred gold resources increased by 302% to 20-million ounces and inferred copper resources increased by 379% to 8.6-billion pounds. As in previous years, we are confident that this year’s programme should add sufficient resource ounces of gold to more than offset the share issuances from this financing,” chairperson and CEO Rudi Fronk said in a statement.

The KSM project comprises the Kerr, Sulphurets, Mitchell and Iron Cap deposits, which together hold proven and probable reserves of 2.2-billion tonnes grading 0.55 g/t gold for 38.8-million ounces of gold, 0.21% copper for 10.2-billion pounds, 2.6 g/t silver for 183-million ounces and 42.6 ppm molybdenum for 207-million pounds of metal held.

Building on the successful exploration drilling over the past two years, Seabridge said earlier this year that it will re-evaluate its approach to mining KSM, and it now intends to investigate the start of mining at the Iron Cap deposit sooner than set out in the KSM mine plan, which currently proposes developing Iron Cap after the Mitchell, Kerr and Sulphurets deposits. According to the November 2016 KSM technical report, the Iron Cap deposit was the last deposit of the four to be mined, with production slated to start in year 32 of the current 50-plus-year mine plan.