Yukon government rejects controversial placer mining application

The Yukon government has accepted recommendations from its environmental assessment board to say no to a proposed placer mining operation near Judas Creek, south of Whitehorse.

But, the government is also saying the door is not totally closed — and the proponents should consider trying again.

Prospector Nicolai Goeppel and his partner, Alex Shaman, want to mine their 45 placer claims, just north of Jake's Corner.

The Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) said the project threatened caribou in the area and should be stopped — and the government concurred.

"It's not a very common occurrence to have a placer project recommended not to proceed, by YESAB. It's very uncommon," said Bob Holmes, director of mineral resources for the Yukon government. 

"The reason in this case is just the sensitivity of the area and the way the project was proposed."

Yukon's environment department, in a submission to YESAB, said the claims overlap, or are surrounded by, high quality habitat for the Carcross caribou herd. The department said the claims make up part of the herd's core winter range and are on its migration route.

Holmes says the project may have better luck with some tweaking — for example, moving or changing the timing of certain activities, or re-routing a road.

The original proposal did not include any alternatives, he said, so the only options for government were to accept it, or reject it.

"We're just saying that in this particular project, that there would appear to be an opportunity for a re-design of this project, to successfully go through assessment.

"No guarantees, but it's possible."

Goeppel and Shaman have not returned calls from CBC.