Government of Yukon provides update on heap leach failure response at Victoria Gold’s Eagle Gold Mine

Activities on-site

• Work continues on site to advance critical environmental protection and human health and safety measures in the four priority areas of: contaminated water storage, water treatment, groundwater monitoring and heap stability.
• Efforts have also focused on ensuring safe camp facilities for the workers on site.
• Construction of the berm continues.
• The Yukon government wishes to acknowledge the work that site staff and contractors are doing to progress remediation efforts.

Water monitoring

• From August 29 to September 5, low and “non-detect” concentrations of cyanide were observed at all water monitoring locations in Haggart Creek.
• All  concentrations of cyanide detected in Haggart Creek during this period were below the relevant guideline for the protection of aquatic life.
• Water monitoring in the receiving environment is ongoing to ensure any changes to current conditions are detected
• Numerous groundwater wells have been installed and water quality data is anticipated to be available next week.

Fish monitoring

• Mitigation measures continue to be in place to prevent fish from entering the area adjacent to the mine site, on Haggart Creek.
• These measures consist of installed fish fences, prohibiting fish passage into this area.
• The Government of Yukon and the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun are working closely with Fisheries and Oceans Canada to ensure fall migration patterns of fish are not disrupted.
• There have been no new reports of further fish die-offs in Haggart Creek.