Yukon mines minister won't rule out public inquiry into Eagle gold mine failure

Yukon's mines minister is not ruling out a public inquiry into the failure at Victoria Gold's Eagle mine earlier this summer — but he's also not yet ready to commit to one.

Minister John Streicker said he first wants to know exactly what caused the slide at the mine's heap leach facility on June 24. That's something the newly-appointed independent review board will figure out, he said.

"We think that what you need to do is to find out what caused this slide. A public inquiry, or whatever process comes next, you sure want to know what happened here — and that will shape what we should look at next," Streicker said in an interview with CBC News.

The territorial government established the independent review board last week. It's comprised of three experts who will spend the next six to eight months investigating the causes of the heap leach slide and the resultant release of cyanide solution into the environment.  

Streicker said the independent review board will be just that: independent of government.

"It's right there in the name," he said.

"I think we will work to liaise with them. I think we will work to provide them support as they request ... but it's not, we're not managing them. That's not how this should be." 

The board has already been criticized by the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (FNNND), which argues that the work the board will do is "insufficient." 

The First Nation cites the territory's guidelines for mine waste management facilities, under which the Yukon government established the independent review board.

Those guidelines "contemplate a technical process to help mining companies avoid disasters like this one — not a holistic process to look back on the many direct and indirect causes of a disaster that has already occurred," reads an open letter from the First Nation to the territorial government on Wednesday.

Failure 'did not occur in a vacuum'

The FNNND has called for an independent public inquiry with "robust investigative powers" to look beyond just the technical details of what happened on June 24 and consider the larger issues around mining regulation in Yukon.

"The Eagle gold mine disaster did not occur in a vacuum. It was preceded by years of warning signs, including a landslide in January and chronic water storage and management issues. It is unclear what, if any, steps Yukon government ("YG") took in response to these red flags," the letter reads.

"FNNND again urges YG [the Yukon government] to initiate a public inquiry into the Eagle gold mine disaster that includes an investigation of how YG's oversight — or lack thereof — may have contributed to the incident." 

Streicker said the government's initial focus at the Eagle mine was responding to the slide and working to protect the environment, then to establish what exactly happened. It was essential to get the independent review board set up quickly so it could begin that work, Streicker said.

"I've always said, yeah, of course we've got more questions and we'll need more ways to investigate those things," he said.

"We're not opposed to looking at these hard questions. But ... it sounds pretty open-ended to me, as a process, to move straight to a public inquiry."

No time to reflect

Streicker said there's been little time over the past couple of months to second-guess any decisions the government has made so far.

"There hasn't been time to reflect back to consider whether there was a better approach or not yet. Maybe we'll get that time somewhere soon, but I don't think we're going to get it before freeze-up. I think freeze-up is a critical time, and we're working hard to get to that time right now," Streicker said.

The Yukon Chamber of Mines, in the meantime, welcomes the appointment of the review board. Executive director Jonas Smith said the chamber has been pushing for that since the incident in June. 

"Winter is coming here. So we're glad to see this finally get underway," said Smith.

He's not convinced a public inquiry is necessary, saying he had questions about the scope of such an inquiry, how long it would take, and what it could cost.

Still, Smith says it's important to figure out what caused the slide to ensure something like it never happens again. It's also needed in order to "instill confidence in the Yukon's mining industry," he said.

"For the time being, the chamber is pleased to see the relatively limited scope of the investigation, just in the interest of time and cost, and hopefully getting to the root causes as soon as possible."