Government of Yukon provides latest update on heap leach failure at Victoria Gold’s Eagle Gold Mine

The Government of Yukon continues to closely monitor and respond to the impacts of the June 24, 2024, heap leach facility failure at Victoria Gold Corporation’s Eagle Gold Mine on the Traditional Territory of the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun.

On Thursday, August 29, 2024, the Government of Yukon held a technical briefing with Yukon First Nations leadership. The purpose of this briefing was to provide an update on the work to monitor and respond to potential environmental, health and social impacts related to the heap leach failure at Victoria Gold’s Eagle Gold Mine. The Government of Yukon wishes to thank all First Nations Chiefs, Councillors and Executive Directors who participated in the call.

Independent Review Board

• The Government of Yukon has launched an independent review to investigate the heap leach failure that occurred at the Eagle Gold Mine.
• The purpose of the independent review is to identify the causes of the heap leach failure. This will include a review of the design, construction, operation, maintenance and monitoring of the heap leach facility.
• Three highly qualified technical experts have been selected to be on the Independent Review Board. The independent review should take six to eight months to complete.

Groundwater monitoring wells

• Core Geo continues with work to install groundwater monitoring wells at the mine site, at locations far enough from the slide area that it is safe to do so. Three wells have been installed so far.
• Further updates on groundwater sampling results will be provided as they become available.

Safety berm

• Pelly Construction will soon start work on a safety berm across the slide area and its access road. The safety berm will allow for groundwater monitoring wells to be safely installed near the slide area.
• Precautions are being taken to protect workers building the berm, including having adequate onsite monitoring to detect any slope instability and having plans in place to stop work and move workers away from an area if new slide movement is observed.

Water monitoring

• From August 16 to 20, low and non-detect concentrations of cyanide were observed at all surface water monitoring locations in Haggart Creek.
• Concentrations of WAD cyanide during this period have been below 0.0013 mg/L in Haggart Creek. This level of cyanide is well below aquatic life guidelines, which is 0.005 mg/L.
• This is still a dynamic situation that always has the potential to change.
• Water monitoring in the receiving environment is ongoing according to the water monitoring and reporting plan prepared by Water Resources Branch in collaboration with other Government of Yukon departments, the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun and consultants in response to the heap leach failure at the Eagle Gold Mine site.

Fish monitoring

• Department of Environment staff were able to examine all 68 fish that were collected following the discharge event on August 2.
• Six of these fish have been subsampled and are in possession of Environment and Climate Change Canada. The remaining 62 are with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. All are part of ongoing federal investigations.
• Department of Environment staff examined all of the fish to determine species and tag presence. None of these fish had been previously tagged by the Government of Yukon or the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun as part of the monitoring program.
• Of the 68 fish, the species are confirmed as 39 Arctic grayling, 27 slimy sculpin, one burbot and one round whitefish.
• This week, fisheries staff are returning to the Haggart Creek watershed to finish collecting tissue samples for metal content analysis. The goal is to collect samples from 30 Arctic grayling and 30 slimy sculpin in each of the main creeks in this area, where they are present. The sampling being conducted on August 28 and August 29 will finish this collection, which was started earlier this summer.
• Department of Environment staff met with the Receiver’s environmental consultant this week and will continue to communicate updates as they are received.

Legal updates

• The Government of Yukon has made public a list of liens that have been filed by companies attempting to secure payment from Victoria Gold Corp. More than $50 million in liens have been filed against the company to date. The lien claim document will be updated weekly on the Victoria Gold Updates website.
• On August 26, 2024, the Receiver, PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc., issued a document titled Notice and Statement of the Receiver, pursuant to subsection 245(1) and 246(1) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act in the Matter of the Receivership of the Property of Victoria Gold Corp. Among other things, this document indicates that Victoria Gold Corp. owes at least $173 million USD to secured creditors and more than $82 million CAD to unsecured creditors, including 89 Yukon-based companies, which are owed nearly $42 million CAD.

Animal and plant harvesting

• For those engaging in on-the-land activities such as hunting, fishing or gathering in the area, current data suggests no increased immediate health risks from these activities outside the immediate area of the mine.
• Due to the instability at the mine itself, the Chief Medical Officer of Health continues to recommend that people not consume water or eat fish from Haggart Creek.
• The Department of Environment’s Animal Health Unit is asking hunters harvesting moose and caribou north of Mayo to collect liver, kidney, muscle and incisor bar samples and submit them to a Department of Environment office.
• Hunters can pick up sampling kits at Department of Environment district offices in Mayo, Dawson and Whitehorse. These samples will help the Animal Health Unit establish baseline data for long-term monitoring of moose and caribou in the area.