Victoria Gold's Eagle gold mine site north of Mayo, Y.T., is shown in this handout aerial photo taken July 3.HO/The Canadian Press
The Yukon government is hopeful that the site of a catastrophic cyanide spill in the territory can be sufficiently remediated to allow the restart of gold mining.
Four million tonnes of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed at the outdoor gold-processing facility operated by Victoria Gold Corp. VGCX-T in late June. About two million tonnes broke through the company’s containment zone and spilled into the local environment. The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun fears the spill could devastate fisheries, hunting grounds and groundwater. Dozens of dead fish were recently found in a creek near the mine.
Toronto-based Victoria Gold was put into receivership this week at the request of the Yukon government, which was concerned the company wasn’t moving with enough urgency to remediate the site, and over fears it lacked sufficient funding. Yukon is now paying for the remediation and cleanup effort, which is expected to cost up to $150-million, according to its own early estimate.
Despite the likely long road to rehabilitation, the government is optimistic that not only can the site be restored to the state it was in before the accident, but that production can restart at some point.
“We still hold out hope that mining can occur at this site, that there can be mitigation to return the site to a viable mine,” said Tracy-Anne McPhee, Yukon’s Minister of Justice, at a news conference on Friday.
The restart of mining would likely have to occur under a new owner if receiver PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. can find a buyer. The same receiver was unable to find a buyer for the Minto mine in the territory after its owner abandoned the site in 2023.
Lauren Haney, Yukon’s deputy minister of energy, mines and resources, said at the news conference on Friday that remediation work over the next few months at the Victoria Gold site will include increasing water treatment, adding more water-storage capacity, and geotechnical efforts to ensure the stability of the ore pile that remains on site.
Cord Hamilton, a consulting engineer working for Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, said earlier in the week that it may take until next spring before the Eagle site is stabilized. Groundwater monitoring for cyanide is expected to continue for years.
The cause of the rock collapse at Eagle has yet to be determined, but Victoria Gold chief executive John McConnell told The Globe and Mail earlier in the week that he suspects it was caused by uncontrolled buildup of fluid on the heap leach rock pile.
Heap leaching involves stacking mined ore into outdoor piles and then sprinkling it with water laced with cyanide. Gold leaches from the ore into a lined pond and it is then pumped to an enclosed facility, where it is collected.
The Yukon government is looking at tightening its oversight of the mining industry in the wake of the disaster, and it has suspended the issuance of heap leach licences pending the outcome of an independent review.
The government is holding $103.7-million in surety bonds that were paid by Victoria Gold and earmarked to rehabilitate the Eagle mine site after it closed permanently. On Friday, Ms. McPhee said those funds can also be tapped by the receiver to help pay for the current cleanup effort.
“My understanding is that it is still an option to help pay for the kind of work that is anticipated at this time,” she said.