Yukon premier blasts Victoria Gold's 'absence of action' in response to cyanide spill

Yukon's premier delivered a sharp rebuke of mining company Victoria Gold on Tuesday. 

Speaking at the Council of Yukon First Nations' general assembly, Ranj Pillai suggested the company has joined a list of "bad actors" that have exploited the territory.

Last month's heap leach failure at the Eagle Gold mine near Mayo led to a large spill of cyanide solution into the groundwater.

Pillai compared it to heavily contaminated sites like the abandoned Faro mine.

"I'm not going to stand before you and paint a rosy picture of mining and 'we must do better,'" Pillai said. "I will not do so when we see corporations cut their losses and run at the suggestion of financial loss, not when our people are facing the loss of the safe use of their lands, not when we are left with a giant mess to clean up."

Pillai's comments came the same day Victoria Gold CEO John McConnell agreed to media interviews for the first time since the mine's heap leach pad failed.

McConnell told CBC that his company doesn't intend to leave the site of the Eagle mine "in the foreseeable future."

'The future of the Yukon is not for sale'

Pillai said his remarks "will probably upset some folks" but his role as premier is to "state the facts."

He acknowledged the economic benefits mining has had in the territory, but cautioned developers to be careful.

"Industry cannot operate today if it's at tomorrow's expense," he said. 

"The future of the Yukon is not for sale."

Mining also brings "some outsiders to the territory" that don't respect the land or way of life of people who live in the Yukon, Pillai said. 

"Nearly every major mine closure has left us holding the bag," he said. 

Pillai called the situation at the Eagle mine "a reflection point" and said the Yukon government and First Nations need to work together to protect the environment. 

"If every time something gets built, we end up having massive debt and it's affecting us as Yukoners, we have to stop and say no." 

The territorial government has issued several work orders to the company, including building berms to stabilize the site and more water storage. 

Pillai said there's been "an absence of action from the company on those orders."

Last week, the territorial government announced it would be bringing in its own contractors to build berms.