By Canadian Press

Ore slide at Yukon’s Victoria Gold mine not the first failure: government officials

Jun 28, 2024 | 3:54 PM

WHITEHORSE — Yukon government mining officials say a recent slide of ore at a gold mine in the territory was the second such failure this year.

Russell McDiarmid, the government’s head of major mines, says they’re hoping to get test results back next week to find out if the latest slide in a heap-leach facility at Victoria Gold’s Eagle Mine led to a cyanide spill in nearby creeks.

Work was stopped at the mine north of Mayo on Monday when the company said its heap-leach pad failed “and a portion of the failure has left containment,” leading to concerns from local First Nations about the potential environmental impact

Yukon’s director of mineral resources Kelly Constable says a previous failure in January was at a different part of the facility, and that chemicals were not being used at that time and the ore was contained.

A technical report from 2023 on Victoria Gold’s website says the primary heap leach pad can hold up to 92 million tonnes of ore for the gold-extraction process, which involves using the cyanide solution to separate out the gold.

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Constable told reporters at a media briefing on the failure that information is still being gathered on how much ore moved in the slide, how much cyanide was in the facility at the time, and what caused the collapse.

Will Tewnion, director of compliance monitoring and inspections in Yukon, says when mining officials arrived on scene, the company had already taken mitigation steps to contain the water, with pumps and dams, and there was no visible liquid that had not been contained.

Health officials have said current information suggested the drinking water wells for the Village of Mayo are not affected.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2024.

The Canadian Press