A year after the Eagle mine failure, questions remain about Yukon's mining future

To Frank Patterson, a First Nations elder in Mayo, Yukon, past year's catastrophic nonaccomplishment at the adjacent Eagle golden excavation was not a full surprise.

"It was devastating," helium said. "And you know, anybody that went successful determination could spot thing would hap someday."

It was 1 twelvemonth ago, connected the greeting of June 24, 2024, that the Eagle mine went in a substance of moments from being a celebrated centrepiece of the territory's assets industry to an costly biology catastrophe that is inactive not afloat understood.   

The failure at the Eagle excavation besides gave different achromatic oculus to the territory's mining industry, which has seen its stock of ample and costly excavation failures and bankruptcies implicit the years. Some radical are wondering what benignant of aboriginal the manufacture has successful the territory. 

The descent astatine the mine's heap leach installation released hundreds of millions of litres of toxic cyanide solution into the situation and instantly halted operations astatine what was past the Yukon's largest operating hard-rock mine. Within weeks, and astatine the Yukon government's request, a court-appointed receiver took implicit the company, Victoria Gold, and its assets. 

Emergency remediation enactment to incorporate the harm astatine the tract and successful the surrounding country is ongoing. Groundwater is being pumped and treated to region immoderate cyanide, and the territory's mines curate admits it's going to instrumentality "a agelong time before you get escaped of each the cyanide." The outgo of remediation truthful acold has been much than $200 million.

"It's taxpayers cleaning up, conscionable similar Faro, Whitehorse, BYG successful Carmacks, you sanction it ... You know, it's conscionable taxpayers are paying for the cleanup, and those guys friggin' get up and tally away," said Patterson, who's from the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun. The Eagle excavation is within the First Nation's accepted territory, and the country affected by the descent is wherever Patterson says helium erstwhile learned astir his accepted culture, from his elders. 

Patterson feels mistakes were made close from the get-go with Victoria Gold. He believes that his First Nation made a atrocious statement with the institution and should person progressive elders much successful the decision-making. Once the institution got what it needed, helium argues, "they unopen the doors" connected the First Nation.

"We were not allowed up there. They gated it off. They enactment information there, they enactment their campy successful there, and they conscionable did immoderate they wanted to do," Patterson said. 

Patterson says he's not against mining. He knows it's inactive the territory's main industry, arsenic it has been for much than a century. But helium believes things request to change, particularly erstwhile it comes to approving mines and monitoring their operations. 

"The mode Victoria Gold did it, it was greed. Pure greed," helium said.

'It's critically important that we get mining right,' curate says

The nonstop origin of the descent is inactive not clear. In August, the territorial authorities appointed an independent review committee to analyse what happened by looking at the design, construction, operation, attraction and monitoring of the heap leach facility. Heap leaching is simply a method of extracting golden from stacked layers of ore utilizing a cyanide solution. 

The results of that reappraisal are expected successful the coming days.

Speaking to CBC News past week, Yukon's Mines Minister John Streicker said knowing the origin of the descent volition assistance forestall thing akin happening again. It volition besides find what the ongoing remediation volition look similar astatine Eagle excavation site, and whether oregon not the excavation could yet beryllium reopened.

"One of the ways to deliberation astir it is, you request mining. That is, it's critically important that we get mining right. That means that it can't beryllium damaging the environment, oregon wherefore are we doing it?" Streicker said.

Streicker argues that what happened astatine the Eagle excavation is not conscionable hugely important for the Yukon, but besides the country. Mining is indispensable for Canada's move toward a greener economy, helium said, and failures similar the Eagle excavation descent marque it hard for radical to judge that mining tin beryllium done safely.

"If we are capable to marque definite that the situation is not semipermanent heavy impacted, then maybe there's a accidental to person spot that governments volition bash the close happening and marque definite that mining is done appropriately. But there's besides a accidental that it doesn't enactment retired well, and radical volition judge that it's not safe," Streicker said.

"So there's a batch successful the balance, and I deliberation it goes beyond the Yukon successful presumption of however we justice whether it's close to excavation oregon not."

Receiver looks to merchantability excavation site

Earlier this month, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the court-appointed receiver of Victoria Gold, filed a study to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice indicating its volition to enactment the Eagle excavation tract up for sale. The report says things person improved at the site, with exigency enactment expected to beryllium completed by Sept. 30. 

On June 30, determination volition beryllium a tribunal hearing where the receiver volition contiguous its lawsuit for making a sale. PricewaterhouseCoopers wants to adjacent connected the merchantability by the extremity of December.

In Mayo, determination are mixed feelings about whether the excavation could, oregon should, ultimately reopen. A batch of section residents abruptly mislaid their jobs erstwhile the excavation ceased operations a twelvemonth ago.

Victoria Gold made $400 cardinal dollars successful its past twelvemonth of operation, and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun received its archetypal yearly outgo from the excavation — astir $1.4 cardinal — earlier the slide.

Bobbie-Lee Melancon doesn't privation to spot it reopen. She grew up successful the area, sportfishing with her household connected the McQuesten River, and she's aggravated astir the biology devastation from the Eagle excavation failure.

"I don't deliberation we request to beryllium greedy, you know, let's unrecorded connected our beauteous onshore the mode it is," she said.

"If you deliberation about all the wealth that was produced determination and what was made, you know, those are truly large numbers. And I don't deliberation the First Nation got precise overmuch of that pie. And we were near with the mess."

Doug van Bibber, who grew up successful Mayo and works successful forestry, said helium was ne'er a large protagonist of the Eagle project, oregon heap leach mining. He says the situation is yet much important than the economy, "because wealth comes and goes; the onshore doesn't."

"But I bash cognize that, you know, you got to person assets sectors. And I conscionable deliberation we person to beryllium a small spot much originative now, to however economical improvement occurs. You know, commencement looking astatine the wood and not conscionable the minerals," helium said.

Frank Patterson, the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun elder, says helium would similar to spot the Eagle excavation reopen, due to the fact that "mining is needed." 

"My thoughts connected reopening is OK, due to the fact that I privation the radical that they beryllium wealth to to beryllium paid. And I besides privation the jobs that are gonna unafraid our people. But opening up to the aforesaid statement — no," helium said.

"From present on, erstwhile the mining assemblage comes into play, we're going to marque definite it's done right, due to the fact that it's for our aboriginal generations."