Yukon prepares for busy, expensive few months at site of ore slide before freeze-up

Officials say crews on the site of a major cyanide spill at a mine in central Yukon are facing an intense period of work over the next few months to install environmental protection before winter freeze-up arrives.

Victoria Gold, the owner of the Eagle Gold mine, 480 kilometres north of Whitehorse, was put into court-ordered receivership last week, after the mine’s heap leach pad failed and about two million tonnes of cyanide-laced rock broke through containment in June.

Erin Dowd, the territory’s manager of major mine licensing, has told a briefing that with the receivership in place, work is underway to install five groundwater monitoring wells.

She says other priorities include increasing water storage at the site and addressing the stability of the heap by building a berm as protection if the rock were to slide again.

Energy Mines and Resources deputy minister Lauren Haney says early estimates are that costs over the next few months in the “intense period” before freeze-up will be around $50 million and that the total cost of cleanup could be around $150 million.

Yukon Mines Minister John Streicker says terms of reference are being finalized for an independent review board that will looking into what caused the disaster, and the names of board members are expected to be announced next week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 23, 2024