An independent review launched by the Yukon government to investigate the causes and factors contributing to the June 24 heap leach failure at Victoria Gold’s Eagle Gold Mine north of Mayo has begun.
The review is part of the government’s response, as regulator, to the “catastrophic failure and its impact on the environment and human health and safety,” according to a press release.
The purpose is to figure out what caused the cyanide-laden landslide by reviewing the design, construction, operation, maintenance and monitoring of the heap leach facility.
The review board process is supposedly in line with the Yukon’s Mine Waste Facilities Management Guidelines. Independent technical reviews of this kind are common practice worldwide the release notes.
Three experts have been chosen for the Independent Review Board: Jean-Marie Konrad, Les Sawatsky and Mark E. Smith.
“The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun has reviewed draft Terms of Reference and has an open invitation to join the Independent Review Board process at any time,” reads the release.
The review process is expected to take six to eight months to complete, and the results will be made public.
The Yukon government will use the results to limit or eliminate the potential for a similar failure happening again. The outcome of the review could lead to changes in practices, processes and compliance, monitoring and enforcement activity, per the release.
“Understanding the causes of the failure will help inform remediation of the failure, possible options for a future restart of mine operations at Eagle Gold, as well as other future operations in the Yukon,” reads the release.
The release notes the receivership will pay for the review.
Konrad is a geotechnical expert who has authored or co-authored more than 150 technical papers and has been a member on several independent peer review boards in the mining industry.
Sawatsky is described as a director of engineering and civil engineer with more than 40 years of experience in mine developments, closure planning, reclamation, drainage, water supply and tailings management.
The release notes Smith is a professional engineer with 45 years in gold heap leaching. He has worked for more than a decade in the Yukon, including on the owner’s team for Coffee Gold and consulting for the Mine Waste Facilities Management Guidelines and review of cyanide management practices at the Eagle Gold Mine. Currently, he is on the failure response team for SSR Mining's Çöpler mine in Turkey which was the site of a heap leach failure that killed nine workers this February.
The social and economic impacts are still trickling out more than two months following the mine landslide in the Yukon.
As of Aug. 30, more than two dozen claims adding up to more than $58 million in miners' liens have been registered against Victoria Gold, according to a list of liens posted online by the Yukon government.
That includes $13.9 million filed by Finning International, $9.2 million filed by Pelly Construction and $8.1 million filed by 536202 Yukon Inc.
As a result of the mine disaster, the Yukon Fire Fitness Association said it is not in a position this year to host the regional Firefit competition in May 2025. The group said it will be looking for additional sponsors to help secure enough funding for this event in Whitehorse in 2026 or 2027.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was appointed to take control of Victoria Gold on Aug. 14, recently released information about the mining company’s financial situation. The company owes at least $233 million to secured creditors, and $82.74 million to unsecured creditors.
On Sept. 3, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in (TH) issued a statement effectively joining First Nations backing the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (FNNND) in its demand for suspending all mining activity, except for care and maintenance or remediation, within FNNND’s traditional territory. That’s until the heap leach failure is cleaned up and the root causes addressed, per the statement.
“Yukoners should not have to pay for a mess created by inadequate mine management; Victoria Gold must be held accountable in full for all clean-up costs associated with the disaster,” reads the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in statement.
The statement brings into question who will compensate FNNND for the “loss of rights enshrined in both the Canadian Constitution and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun Final Agreement.”
“For TH, we wish to affirm that moving forward, no major mine in our traditional territory will have our support without a comprehensive and meaningful benefit agreement to the satisfaction of our government, along with guarantees that mining activities will be undertaken in a sustainable way that respects the environment, TH rights, and TH priorities,” TH said.
“We will no longer tolerate a mine plan that does not consider our rights and interests at its forefront.”
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
