Canada Mining – North of 60

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/

In June, Yukon’s Eagle gold mine saw what the territory’s mines minister is calling a “catastrophic failure”: the release of hundreds of millions of litres of toxic cyanide solution into the environment. For many local residents, it’s a wake-up call about the risks and costs of large-scale mining in the territory.

Steve Buyck walks a forest path framed by highbush cranberries, rosehips and Siberian Aster. Slung over his shoulder, a rifle. The bullet in the chamber is large enough to down a moose.

These days, however, hunting the animal doesn’t come so easily for him. Not far away from Buyck’s home, along the banks of the Stewart River in central Yukon, is the Eagle mine, the site of a “catastrophic” heap leach pad failure and cyanide spill in late June.

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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Victoria Gold Corp. chief executive officer John McConnell says he regrets staying silent while the company was in crisis, and suspects June’s catastrophic cyanide spill at its Yukon mine was caused by an uncontrolled buildup of fluid.

Four million tonnes of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed at the outdoor heap-leaching facility on June 24 and half of that spilled into the local environment beyond the company’s containment zone. The scale of the environmental damage is unknown, but the local First Nation fears the spill could devastate salmon fisheries, hunting grounds and groundwater. Dozens of dead fish were recently found in a creek near the mine and groundwater in the vicinity of the mine will have to be monitored for toxic cyanide for years to come.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Company has no intention of leaving the site, says John McConnell

The president and CEO of Victoria Gold says there’s still a lot of work to do before the heap leach failure at the company’s Eagle mine site near Mayo, Yukon, is contained — but the company has no intention of leaving the site.

Speaking publicly Tuesday — the first time he has done so since the heap leach pad went down on June 24 — John McConnell said he believes there is no longer the potential for major environmental impacts from the failure, which is believed to have released up to 300,000 cubic metres of toxic sodium cyanide solution.

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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Yukon government has taken over some of the environmental-mitigation efforts stemming from a major gold-processing plant failure in the territory because operator Victoria Gold Corp. failed to meet a key government directive.

Four million tonnes of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed on June 24 at an outdoor heap-leach facility at the Eagle gold mine in central Yukon operated by Victoria Gold. Two million tonnes of material breached the company’s containment zone and elevated levels of cyanide were later found in a water body adjacent to the mine.

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https://www.northernminer.com/

A landslide that’s stopped production at Victoria Gold’s (TSXV: VGCX) Eagle mine in the Yukon may have been inevitable due to the company’s weak approach to safety protocols, current and former employees say.

Individuals who approached The Northern Miner to share their experiences of working at Eagle, told of neglected incidents and repairs, attempts to subvert injury reports and widespread drug and alcohol use in a supposedly dry camp. They asked not to be named to avoid career repercussions.

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https://www.aptnnews.ca/

Victoria Gold recently indicated it’s facing financial uncertainty

Some environmental advocacy groups are speculating the company behind the Eagle Gold Mine – site of a cyanide spill in Yukon last month – may soon go bankrupt. Mine owner Victoria Gold released a statement on July 12 indicating it is facing uncertainty regarding the future of the mine.

“There can be no assurance that the Company will receive authorizations necessary to restart production,” it said, “or that the Company will have the financial resources necessary to repair damage to equipment and facilities or remediate impacts caused by the incident or restart production.”

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Government spokesperson says company submitted plans, which aren’t public

The Yukon government has given Victoria Gold marching orders to deal with toxic chemicals in and around its Eagle mine, following last month’s major failure of a heap leach pad at the site.

A new report written by a government inspector states there’s “reasonable grounds” to believe the company has violated laws that govern water use.

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