The Government of Yukon provides update on October 18 on the Eagle gold mine

The Government of Yukon provides an update to Yukoners regarding the progress of the remediation work and environmental monitoring at the Eagle Gold heap leach failure.

On site, the berm is now 30 per cent complete. The pit pond extension is now complete adding 70,000 m³ of water storage bringing the total to 216,000 m³ built since the Receiver has been on site.

Groundwater samples from Dublin Gulch below the slide continue to reveal high levels of cyanide. The Government of Yukon also sees metals like cobalt, copper, mercury, nickel, silver, and selenium in the groundwater below the slide.

Results from samples taken between September 28 and October 4 in Haggart Creek show that mercury levels exceeded the mine’s water quality objectives, which is 0.02 ug/L, at some monitoring stations. Exceedances at these monitoring locations ranged between 0.02 to 0.06 ug/L. Additional sampling conducted in response to these results has found that the form of mercury present has low potential for accumulating in the tissues of fish and wildlife. The recent results of both the groundwater and surface water monitoring indicate that additional actions are required to protect the environment and reinforce the need for the planned groundwater interception wells below the safety berm.

So far, work on three of the groundwater interception wells has begun as the safety berm is going in. In the meantime, several sumps have been installed to intercept and capture shallow groundwater.

The Government of Yukon will continue monitoring both the surface and groundwater to determine if the measures that have been directed are effective or if further actions are needed to protect the environment.

The Government of Yukon understands that the heap leach failure continues to raise concerns among local residents, especially about the safety of hunting, fishing and other cultural activities.

At this time, the levels of mercury and other heavy metals in Haggart Creek do not pose a heightened risk to the health of residents or to those using the land and water downstream of the mine. Health officials are in regular communication with staff from the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun to discuss findings.

The Government of Yukon will continue to monitor the situation closely and keep Yukoners informed if the risks change significantly.

The Chief Medical Officer of Health and the Chief Veterinary Officer conclude that locally harvested land animals, like moose and caribou, remain safe to eat.

To ensure and maintain this level of safety, the Department of Environment’s Animal Health Unit and the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun are asking hunters who harvest moose and caribou north of Mayo to collect and submit samples from the liver, kidney, muscle and teeth of these animals. This testing will help establish baseline data, and over time, with this data, the Government of Yukon will be able to monitor if levels of heavy metals in the animals’ tissues change. The Government of Yukon expects preliminary results from this study to be available by early 2025.

This summer, technical experts from the Government of Yukon, in collaboration with the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun, also conducted a fisheries monitoring program. Currently, the Government of Yukon is in the process of analyzing and reporting the data and will share the results as soon as they are available. In addition, the Government of Yukon is working with Fisheries and Oceans Canada to get a better understanding of how much winter habitat is available for fish in the area, as this is still not well understood.