Gold Co. Looks to Advance Massive BC Project to Partnership

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After issuing its annual corporate Report Card for its 2024 goals last month, Seabridge Gold Inc. (SEA:TSX; SA:NYSE.MKT) is now looking ahead and setting 16 objectives for 2025.

As of 2024, the top goal, with a weight of 25%, is finding a joint venture (JV) partner for its massive KSM project in British Columbia.

In a release, Seabridge noted it was looking for a "major mining company that has the technical, financial, and social wherewithal to build and operate the project," which analysts Taylor Combaluzier and David Talbot of Red Cloud Securities noted in updated research on March 13 is "one of the largest undeveloped gold-copper projects in the world."

Seabridge noted that for more than 20 years, it has set and published its corporate objectives and reported the results annually. Last month, it released a Report Card based on its 15 goals from last year, meeting all of them except for one — finding a partner for KSM.

The results are used to determine at-risk compensation for senior management and bonus considerations for other employees, the company said.

The company has reported advancing discussions with three potential partners for KSM, the Red Cloud analysts said.

"In our view, this set of objectives outlines a clear path forward and priorities for the company," they wrote. "Linking management's compensation with the progress achieved on these objectives aligns its interest with that of shareholders. With copper and gold prices approaching record high levels (currently trading at ~US$2,930/oz Au and ~US$4.85/lb Cu), we believe Seabridge is well-positioned to benefit from the strong metal price environment."

Given the company's recent US$100 million financing, the analysts maintained their Buy rating on the stock and increased their target price to CA$53.90 per share, a 234% return at the time the note was written.

Other Goals for the Year

One of the other goals Seabridge listed for 2025 included securing the financing, at a weight of about 20%, has already been met.

"The financing is intended to continue to advance early-stage construction activities and final FS (feasibility study) data collection at KSM and consisted of a US$80M bought deal and US$20M private placement with a strategic investor," Combaluzier and Talbot noted. "This should allow the company to fund its bankable FS, which it expects to undertake with a JV partner."

Some other objectives include drilling at least 8,000 meters at its Iskut project to announce a maiden gold-copper mineral resource at the Snip North target in 2026 (10%), exiting the year with more gold resources per common share than reported at the end of 2024 (6%), satisfying regulatory requirements for its permit application for the Michell Treaty Tunnels (5%), and achieving key health and safety indicators (5%).

Seabridge noted it was looking for a "major mining company that has the technical, financial, and social wherewithal to build and operate the project," which analysts Taylor Combaluzier and David Talbot of Red Cloud Securities noted is "one of the largest undeveloped gold-copper projects in the world."

Another objective, worth 5% of the final Report Card next year, is to complete and file responses challenging two petitions filed last year in British Columbia Supreme Court challenging KSM's Substantially Started designation.

During the application process for the designation, Seabridge said it submitted letters from "representatives of the three largest indigenous peoples in the area of the KSM project, the Nisga'a Lisims government, the Tahltan central government and the Gitxsan hereditary chiefs office, as well as the village of Hazelton, the district of New Hazelton, the town of Smithers, the district of Stewart, the city of Terrace, (and) the regional district of Kitimat-Stikine, all expressing strong support for a positive SS determination for the KSM project."

"It is clear that the new petitioners do not represent the interests of northwest British Columbia or Canada," Seabridge Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rudi Fronk said at the time. "We are very confident there is ample evidence that the (SS) determination was reasonable and appropriate."

The SS determination is unaffected and will remain in place if it is successfully defended, the company said.

Other goals for 2025 include unlocking value from its Courageous Lake project (5%), completing a drilling campaign at 3 Aces (5%), improving cybersecurity systems (2%), remaining in compliance with permits and reporting required for all projects (2%), strengthening the company's social license with Treaty and First Nations communities (2%), and further evaluating the potential for a "Getchell-style discovery at its Snowstorm project using AI technology and other survey technology (2%).

The Catalyst: A Secular Gold Bull Market

According to a report by Ashitha Shivaprasad and Brijesh Patel on Thursday for Reuters, gold "raced to a record high within touching distance of the key milestone of US$3,000 per ounce on Thursday, with momentum driven by elevated tariff uncertainty and bets on monetary policy easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve."

Spot gold climbed 1.6% to US$2,979.76 an ounce after hitting its twelfth record peak this year earlier in the session, the article reported. Prices are up nearly 14% so far this year.

"Gold is in a secular bull market. We forecast prices to trade between US$3,000-US$3,200 this year," said Alex Ebkarian, chief operating officer at Allegiance Gold, according to the Reuters report.

Angela Brown of CBS News MoneyWatch has reported that the price of gold is not immune to volatility, especially in the short term. Will gold prices continue to rise?

"We don't think that the rally is over yet," Lina Thomas, a commodities strategist at Goldman Sachs Research, noted during a recent discussion regarding gold prices, Brown reported. "We have a target of US$3,500 by the end of 2025. The reason for that is twofold: One, structurally higher central bank demands, and two, some boost to ETF flows because the Fed is expected to cut twice this year. That being said if safe-haven demand remains high or picks up again … we can easily go to US$3,300 by the end of 2025."

Ownership and Share Structure

Refinitiv provided a breakdown of the company's ownership and share structure, where management and insiders own approximately 3% of the company. According to Refinitiv, CEO and Chairman Rudi P. Fronk owns 1.37%.

Refinitiv reports that institutions own about 48% of the company. According to Reuters, Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd. owns 17.58%, National Bank of Canada owns 3.81%, Van Eck Associates Corp. owns 3.76%, Kopernik Global Investors, L.L.C. owns 11.57%, and Paulson & Co. Inc. owns 2.25%.

According to Refinitiv, there are about 91.95 million shares outstanding, while the company has a market cap of CA$1.48 billion and trades in a 52-week range of CA$14.70 and CA$28.39.