The Yukon government said it's ready to step in at Victoria Gold's Eagle mine site to complement or supplement to protect the safety of people and the environment following a heap leach slide last month.

On June 24, a slide of the ore stacked in the heap leach facility caused ore to spill over the dam at the base of the heap facility at the Eagle gold mine in Yukon, Canada.

In a press conference on Thursday, Yukon's deputy minister of energy mines and resources said that the gold miner hasn't been publicly transparent about its efforts to clean up the spill and prevent further contamination of the environment.

"It is very unfortunate, and frankly, unhelpful, that the company has been so silent in general, and specifically around the actions that they are taking at the site," deputy minister Lauren Haney said.

Yukon is relying on the advice of its technical team on when and if it's appropriate to step in, the deputy minister added. 

"Yukon government is contemplating, is ready, to step in and take action to complement or supplement what's already being done on-site with that same view to ultimately health and safety and environmental protection," Haney said.

"We are looking at all the scenarios right now, and one of those scenarios is where we would be taking over activities at the site in a more complete way."

In a release last week, Victoria Gold said there "can be no assurance" that it will have the financial resources to repair damages to its facilities, remediate the impact of the heap leach slide, or even restart production.

Water sampling clear

Since the last briefing from Yukon's government earlier this month, where it said it had found elevated levels of cyanide in waterways, samples taken have not shown any cyanide or heavy metals concentrations above the aquatic life guidelines or save drinking water guidelines, Yukon's mining minister John Streicker said.

The government has been working with the First Nation of the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun and Victoria Gold to understand what the company is doing to address the impact of the accident. Last week, inspectors issued directions to the miner to take immediate measures to increase water storage capacity, manage water flow, stabilise the slide area, expand water monitoring, and develop a comprehensive water treatment plan, Streicker explained.

Additionally, Yukon has contracted a local environment consulting company to conduct ongoing daily water surface and groundwater monitoring.

Water samples from the bottom of the slide show high levels of contamination, which is to be expected, Stricker said, as the heap leach debris flow contains cyanide.

"This remains our most significant and serious environmental risk," he explained. "That debris flow is in contact with the ground, which means that the cyanide solution is in contact with groundwater that flows toward Haggart Creek. This is exactly why the response efforts continue to focus on water sampling and water management."

Streicker added that the government is developing a website for Yukon residents to keep updated on continued sampling results.

"The safety of people and the protection of our environment have guided every decision and action our government has made since the heap leach failure occurred," he said. "It has always been our government's position that a healthy environment and a healthy economy need to go hand-in-hand. It is important that we work together. We need to ensure our government's decisions reflect our commitment to the environment, to public safety, and to a sound future of the Yukon."

Immediate moratorium

Streicker also addressed the call of the First Nation of the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun for an immediate halt of all mining activity on its traditional lands. 

The First Nation said that the Eagle mine heap leach pad failure and resulting cyanide contamination is the "most recent of many examples of how lack of mining regulation and negligent government oversight is threatening community and wildlife health and safety". It added that land use planning and rigorous safety and regulatory processes are urgently required to prevent repeated mining incidents.

"The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun does not want any new mineral claims, licenses, exploration, development, authorisations or ongoing mining activities on their traditional territory. We understand that they do wish to see care and maintenance, closure, remediation, and reclamation activities continue," Streicker summarised.

"We acknowledge that this is their position, and the Yukon government is now working to understand rights and obligations under Canadian and territorial law."