Seabridge Gold Inc. COURAGEOUS LAKE PROJECT Project Description in Support of a Class “A” Land Use Permit Rescan™ Environmental Services Ltd. Suite 908-5201 50th Avenue Yellowknife, NT Canada X1A 3S9 November 2012 Tel: (867) 920-2090 Fax: (867) 920-2015 COURAGEOUS LAKE PROJECT PROJECT DESCRIPTION IN SUPPORT OF A CLASS “A” LAND USE PERMIT Submitted to: Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board Prepared for: Seabridge Gold Inc. By: Rescan™ Environmental Services Ltd. Yellowknife, NT Project No. 868-104-23-98 November 2012 COURAGEOUS LAKE PROJECT Project Description In Support of a Class “A” Land Use Permit Table of Contents COURAGEOUS LAKE PROJECT PROJECT DESCRIPTION IN SUPPORT OF A CLASS “A” LAND USE PERMIT Table of Contents Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... i List of Figures ................................................................................................... iii List of Tables .................................................................................................... iii List of Plates .................................................................................................... iii List of Appendices .............................................................................................. iv 1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Company Overview .................................................................................. 1-1 2. The Project: Proposed Work................................................................................. 2-1 2.1 Project Location ..................................................................................... 2-1 2.2 Project Area History ................................................................................ 2-5 2.2.1 1940 to 2002 ................................................................................ 2-5 2.2.2 Seabridge: 2003 to 2004 .................................................................. 2-5 2.2.3 Seabridge: 2005 to 2006 .................................................................. 2-6 2.2.4 Seabridge: 2007 to Present .............................................................. 2-6 2.3 Permit History ........................................................................................ 2-7 2.3.1 Regulatory Requirements ................................................................ 2-7 3. Site Description ................................................................................................ 3-1 3.1 Infrastructure ........................................................................................ 3-1 3.2 Drilling Methods ..................................................................................... 3-1 3.3 Equipment ............................................................................................ 3-3 3.4 Bulk Fuel Storage .................................................................................... 3-3 3.5 Winter Road Access ................................................................................. 3-3 3.6 Waste Management ................................................................................. 3-3 3.7 Reclamation .......................................................................................... 3-3 3.8 Development Schedule ............................................................................. 3-4 4. Geology and Mineralization .................................................................................. 4-1 5. Existing Environment ......................................................................................... 5-1 5.1 Climate ................................................................................................ 5-1 5.2 Hydrology ............................................................................................. 5-3 SEABRIDGE GOLD INC. i PROJECT DESCRIPTION IN SUPPORT OF A CLASS “A” LAND USE PERMIT 5.3 Aquatic Resources ................................................................................... 5-3 5.3.1 Bathymetry ................................................................................. 5-3 5.3.2 Water Quality .............................................................................. 5-3 5.4 Sediment Quality .................................................................................... 5-4 5.4.1 Primary and Secondary Producers ...................................................... 5-4 5.4.1.1 Lake Benthos ................................................................... 5-4 5.4.1.2 Stream Benthos ................................................................ 5-4 5.4.2 Fish and Fish Habitat ..................................................................... 5-5 5.5 Soil and Vegetation ................................................................................. 5-6 5.6 Wildlife and Habitat ................................................................................ 5-7 5.6.1 Caribou and Habitat ...................................................................... 5-7 5.6.2 Carnivores and Habitat ................................................................... 5-7 5.6.2.1 Grizzly Bear .................................................................... 5-7 5.6.2.2 Wolf ............................................................................. 5-8 5.7 Traditional Use and Archaeological Resources ................................................. 5-9 6. Potential Environmental Effects and Mitigation Measures ............................................. 6-1 6.1 Noise Disturbance ................................................................................... 6-1 6.2 Air Quality ............................................................................................ 6-1 6.3 Land Disturbance .................................................................................... 6-1 6.3.1 Permafrost .................................................................................. 6-1 6.3.2 Groundwater ............................................................................... 6-1 6.3.3 Vegetation .................................................................................. 6-1 6.4 Aquatic Resources ................................................................................... 6-2 6.4.1 Water Quality .............................................................................. 6-2 6.4.2 Fish and Fish Habitat ..................................................................... 6-2 6.5 Wildlife ................................................................................................ 6-2 6.5.1 Caribou ...................................................................................... 6-2 6.5.2 Grizzly Bear ................................................................................ 6-2 6.6 Archaeology .......................................................................................... 6-2 6.7 Implementation of Monitoring Plans ............................................................. 6-2 7. Government Engagement .................................................................................... 7-1 8. Community Engagement ..................................................................................... 8-1 8.1 Historical Community Engagement ............................................................... 8-1 8.2 Current/Future Community Engagement ....................................................... 8-2 References ............................................................................................................... R-1 ii RESCAN ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES LTD. (PROJ#0868-104-23-98/REV B.1) NOVEMBER 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures FIGURE PAGE Figure 2.1-1. Regional Location of Courageous Lake Property ................................................. 2-2 Figure 2.1-2. Location of Drilling Target Area at Courageous Lake, and Walsh Lake ...................... 2-3 Figure 2.1-3. Courgeous Lake Property Location Map ............................................................ 2-4 Figure 3.2-1. Sketch Map of Typical Drill Site Set-up ............................................................ 3-2 Figure 3.4-1. Diesel Tank EC00025435 as Built Drawing ......................................................... 3-5 List of Tables TABLE PAGE Table 1-1. Seabridge Gold Inc. (5073 N.W.T. Ltd.) Mineral Claims in the Courageous Lake Area, NT ......................................................................................................... 1-3 Table 1-2. Seabridge Gold Inc. (5073 N.W.T. Ltd.) Leases in the Courageous Lake Area, NT ............ 1-4 Table 3.3-1. Equipment List .......................................................................................... 3-3 Table 5.1-1. Summary of Matthews Creek Station Monthly Average Meteorological Observations ...... 5-2 Table 5.4-1. Summary of Metal Concentrations in Lake Sediments from the Study Area ................. 5-4 Table 5.4-2. Summary of Benthos Densities from Lakes in the Study Area .................................. 5-4 Table 5.5-1. Classification Results for Scene 44-15 .............................................................. 5-6 List of Plates PLATE PAGE Plate 4-1. Perspective view of the FAT mineral zones........................................................... 4-1 Plate 5.7-1. Examples of an arrowhead (a) and an archaeological site (b) shown to Aboriginal group members during