Victoria Gold warns it might not reopen Yukon gold mine or have the money to remediate it

The company responsible for the Eagle gold mine near Mayo, Yukon, says it might not have the money to remediate the impacts of its heap leach failure.

It also might never reopen, Victoria Gold Corp. said in a statement Friday.

"There can be no assurance that the company will receive [the government] authorizations necessary to restart production or that the company will have the financial resources necessary to repair damage to equipment and facilities or remediate impacts caused by the incident or restart production," it wrote.

The news comes weeks after the failure of the mine's heap leach pad, a facility that used a cyanide solution to extract gold. Last week, the Yukon government confirmed it had found cyanide in a creek downstream from the mine.

Yukon NDP Leader Kate White told CBC News reading Victoria Gold's statement was "like watching Yukoners' fears play out in real time."

"That fear of the mining company saying, 'We don't have the capital to clean up the disaster that happened on our watch," she explained. "It's the fear I've had since the incident happened on June 24, and I think, unfortunately, this is an example of big mining leaving a mess for Yukoners to clean up."

White said she doesn't think Yukoners have the full picture yet of the situation. She said a briefing by the territory for opposition parties that was supposed to happen this week was postponed.

She also said it fits with a pattern of mining disasters that have happened since 2006, when the Yukon government became responsible for approving new mines.

"We have an example of Wolverine, and then we have Minto, and now we have Victoria Gold sitting on the cusp," she said.

"And so, really, it can't be business as usual ... So minerals legislation is more needed now than ever before."

In its Friday update, the company also detailed the mine infrastructure that has been affected by the failure, including the heap leach embankment itself, piping, pumping, liner, two short lengths of fixed conveyors and some electrical infrastructure.

It said with production suspended, it will "continue to work to minimize impacts to the environment, with the safety of employees as a foremost priority."

The failure at the mine site last month saw a landslide rip off part of the mine's heap leach pad, used to process ore and extract gold.

According to the company, it cannot reopen without authorization from the Yukon's mineral resources director. 

The statement also included information about its water samples, in which it states only water samples from Haggart Creek on July 2 contained cyanide. The most recent samples it includes date up until July 4.

"As of July 4, 2024, based on final sampling results … the company has not exceeded its downstream water quality objectives pursuant to its water use licence," it said.