The Yukon Territory has taken control of Victoria Gold’s Eagle mine following a major landslide and cyanide spill that occurred earlier this summer. The government announced on Friday that it has placed the company into receivership due to environmental concerns and with the intention of reopening the mine once cleanup is complete.
Yukon’s Attorney General, Tracy-Anne McPhee, explained that the decision to put Victoria Gold into receivership was made because the company was not adequately addressing the environmental issues at the site. “Our goal is to ensure that mining at the Eagle site can resume after proper clean-up efforts,” McPhee stated in a press briefing. “We did not intend to end the work of Victoria Gold, but their environmental response was insufficient.”
Victoria Gold had halted operations at the Eagle mine in June after a failure at its heap leach facility, where ore is processed with cyanide. The Yukon government reported finding elevated cyanide levels in local waterways, leading to wildlife fatalities, although Victoria Gold has disputed these claims.
PricewaterhouseCoopers has been appointed as the receiver for Victoria Gold and its assets. The receiver will continue cleanup efforts at the site with funding provided by the Yukon government. This funding will create a debt to be recovered from Victoria Gold’s assets. The government did not specify a timeline for the cleanup.
Following the receivership decision, Victoria Gold’s board of directors resigned. CEO John McConnell criticized the move as “totally unnecessary” in an interview with Canada’s CBC News. The company has not yet responded to further requests for comment.