VANCOUVER - Seabridge Gold Inc. and the Tahltan Nation have announced a co-operation and benefit-sharing agreement linked to the proposed KSM gold and copper mine in northwestern British Columbia.

The announcement comes in a joint news release after the First Nation received a 77.8 per cent ratification vote from members, approving the benefits agreement.

Seabridge CEO Rudi Fronk says the company believes the agreement provides a long-term, genuine partnership between the project and the Tahltan Nation.

He says Seabridge has listened to the nation's environmental, cultural and economic concerns, and the mine's design addresses those issues.

Tahltan president Chad Norman Day says their government has worked in partnership with Seabridge for more than a decade to move the project from the early exploration stage through to permitting.

The mine, located about 65 kilometres northwest of Stewart, has already received environmental approval from both the federal and provincial governments and is expected to operate for more than 50 years.