Seabridge Gold has never been closer to a KSM joint venture, says CEO Rudi Fronk

Seabridge Gold (TSX: SEA; NYSE: SA) has never been closer to securing its preferred joint venture (JV — a deal where a partner earns a stake in the project by funding it) partner for KSM, and the two sides are now documenting the transaction. That is the central update from chair and CEO Rudi Fronk in an interview on The Deep Dive published October 9, 2026. He hopes to announce the partner and terms before year-end, while repeating what he called his long-held position: terms matter more than timing.

Host Steve Hyland opens with the company's origin story. Fronk co-founded Seabridge in 1999 with gold at $260 an ounce, on the idea of buying gold in the ground nobody wants, issuing as few shares as possible, and waiting. Twenty-seven years later, with gold north of $4,000, Seabridge owns KSM in British Columbia's Golden Triangle — which Hyland describes as the largest undeveloped gold project in the world and likely top-three in silver and copper. Fronk agrees.

## The valuation case: less than 10 cents on the dollar

Fronk's core argument is a valuation gap. The right way to value a gold company, he says, is the net present value (NPV — future cash flows discounted to today's dollars) of its reserves. Large-cap miners trade around 1.5 times NPV at spot prices, he notes. Seabridge, by his math, does not: its market cap of roughly $3 billion sits at less than 10% of the after-tax NPV he claims for KSM — north of US$30 billion at current metal prices.

He expects the joint venture to be the event that closes that gap. Announcing the partner and terms, he argues, is when the stock can start moving up the price-to-net-asset-value curve instead of trading at a deep discount to it.

On the metal itself, Fronk believes gold will be back through its all-time high of about $5,500 an ounce — set earlier this year — before the end of 2026. He also criticizes the industry's dilution record, saying companies of all sizes have issued shares without adding matching value.

## A US$100 million facility from an unnamed backer

The headline financing is a US$100 million credit facility from a strategic investor. Fronk describes it as unsecured with a low interest rate and declines to name the lender, citing agreements that prevent disclosure — while noting that few parties would offer capital on those terms. The proceeds fund this year's KSM program: early site construction and the work centered on starting a bankable feasibility study (the detailed engineering and economics study lenders typically require before financing a mine).

## Grid power, roads, and a study ready to launch

The host calls the new power connection a major de-risking step, and Fronk agrees. The Treaty Creek terminal is energized, giving KSM low-cost hydropower for construction. Fronk credits British Columbia and Canada with spending over $700 million to extend the grid past the project. Seabridge has secured the first 25 megawatts from that line for construction, and the same terminal can step up to 245 megawatts for operations. He puts grid power at about 5 cents per kilowatt-hour, against an estimated 15 to 25 cents for self-generated diesel or coal power — and no power plant for Seabridge to fund.

On the ground, the company completed the access road from Highway 37 past its camp to the saddle area, where tunnels will connect the mine to the mill. That included more than 15 kilometers of road work this year. Data collection for the feasibility study is finished, and Fronk says the study can start "almost immediately" once the partnership is announced.

## The permit question: Substantially Started, pending re-confirmation

KSM's "Substantially Started" designation, granted in July 2024, keeps the project's permits valid for the life of the mine rather than letting them expire in July 2026. A small Indigenous group challenged the designation in court. A judge ruled in June, giving the group a 90-day consultation window that has now closed, leaving the government free to re-decide. Fronk expects the status to hold: cumulative project spend has grown from $444 million when the initial application was filed in 2024 to roughly $700 million today.

He is also relaxed about politics. British Columbia has designated KSM a priority project, which he expects to streamline remaining approvals, and the provincial election pauses government business only until the end of October. In his view, both major parties will support a project he describes as critical to the province, its communities, and local Indigenous groups.

## What to watch

Fronk's own scorecard for the next twelve months is a single event: the completed joint venture, with the partner named and terms disclosed. Around it, watch the launch of the feasibility study and the government's re-decision on Substantially Started. Until the deal signs, he says, the gap between the share price and his stated NPV is the opportunity.