Inspections of the mine abandoned by Minto Metals Corp. had flagged some activities related to water and waste.
Inspectors from the Yukon’s Energy, Mines and Resources department deemed the conditions of Minto mine’s onsite storage capacity, waste deposit, cleanliness, waste management and site cleanup as “unacceptable.”
Natural resource officer Kyle Nault and head of major mines Matt Jenner inspected the site on April 26.
A mine inspector issued inspector’s directions to Minto Metals Corp. on April 18 that directed the corporation to act when storage capacity reached a certain threshold to avoid releasing contaminated water to the environment.
On May 12, the company informed the Yukon government it had stopped all mining operations and was relinquishing control of the site. Then the company abandoned the site. The company has no remaining directors after its entire board resigned. The territorial government quickly jumped into caretaker mode by contracting JDS Mining to continue with water treatment and management of water stored on site.
“From this point on, any water coming to the site is from rain or from groundwater coming from underground,” John Thompson, who works in communications for the department, said by email June 12.
“We were able to manage water levels without having to resort to pumping water to the other pit.”
In 2023, a total of more than 293,000 cubic metres of water has been treated on the site.
John Miller, manager of major mines and monitoring, described the state of the now-abandoned mine site as “roughly typical.”
“There’s always, you know, expectations of a few issues here and there, in terms of like oil spills or something, but, I mean, honestly, if everything was going great there would probably still be a company there,” he said.
Previous inspection reports from late 2022 and early 2023 show similar results, with more “unacceptable” conditions being found over time.
“We did have some issues with Minto not reporting spills in a timely manner,” Miller said.
“But I wouldn’t say that was a new issue with them.”
The latest inspection report indicates the corporation had several spills in 2023, with four reportable spills remaining that require final cleanup, testing and reporting.
“The underground truck shop and the adjacent equipment laydown area were in a state of neglect,” reads the report.
“Special waste was piling up and 10 spills were noted during the inspection. Piles of contaminated soil and snow were discovered, but not reported prior, in four locations.”
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com