Government of Yukon provides update on water, fish and mammal monitoring offsite of Victoria Gold’s Eagle Gold Mine

This news release has been edited to correct the date of the technical briefing. 

On Friday, August 9, the Department of Environment’s Senior Groundwater Scientist Brendan Mulligan, Senior Fisheries Biologist Cameron Sinclair and Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. Mary VanderKop provided an update on water and fish monitoring offsite of Victoria Gold’s Eagle Gold Mine and mammal monitoring efforts. In addition, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Sudit Ranade provided an update on human health recommendations for recreating in the area.

A recording of the update will be made available on the Government of Yukon Facebook page and Yukon.ca/victoria-gold-updates.

Water sampling results

Groundwater:

• Victoria Gold has been regularly sampling locations where groundwater daylights to surface in the vicinity of Lower Dublin South Pond.
• Concentrations of weak acid dissociable (WAD) cyanide at these locations are significantly higher than the long-term water quality guidelines for the protection of aquatic life.
• Groundwater at these locations is being collected and contained onsite but not all the groundwater flowing down the Dublin Gulch and Eagle Creek is being captured.
• WAD cyanide concentrations from collected samples in the Dublin Gulch at monitoring station DG1 continue to significantly exceed guidelines for the protection of aquatic life.
• The Government of Yukon does not have evidence that impacted groundwater is discharging into Haggart Creek at this time.
   

Discharge event:

• Discharge from the mine’s water treatment plant occurred on July 31 at 12:15 pm and ended on August 2 at 12:30 am.
• The majority of the total volume of discharge was released on August 1.
• On August 1, concentrations of WAD cyanide exceeded both chronic and acute guidelines for the protection of aquatic life and water quality objectives at three monitoring stations in Haggart Creek: W4-mix, W29 and W99.
• On the same day, concentrations of WAD cyanide exceeded the chronic guideline for the protection of aquatic life and the water quality objectives further downstream on Haggart Creek at W23.
• Guidelines for the protection of aquatic life were not exceeded at monitoring stations further downstream on August 1.
• The Department of Environment will continue to monitor both surface water and groundwater, as it is safe to do so, and share those results when they become available. 

Fish monitoring:

• On August 2, Victoria Gold Corporation reported that personnel discovered dead fish in Haggart Creek.
• As of now, it is reported that 68 dead fish have been collected by the company, of which all were found on August 2 from 11 am to 4 pm.
• Species include arctic grayling and sculpin.
• The fish death is believed to be due to discharge from the mine’s water treatment plant and not directly due to the contaminants in the receiving environment since the heap leach failure incident
• When the company discovered the initial dead fish, they stated that they immediately ceased discharging water from the mine water treatment plant.
• All fish were collected by the company and are being stored for analysis.
• The Department of Environment is awaiting confirmation from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) regarding possession of the fish.
• A fish kill, from any activity other than fishing, is prohibited under the federal Fisheries Act, which is enforced by the DFO and ECCC.
• DFO has ordered Victoria Gold Corporation to implement mitigation efforts following this event.
• Ordered mitigation efforts include constructing seven fish barriers which were constructed last weekend throughout Haggart Creek to keep fish away from areas of contamination.
• DFO has also ordered the company to salvage fish in the downstream area from Dublin Gulch to fence #3.
• The Government of Yukon and the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun are working directly with DFO to provide recommendations to these orders to ensure they align with the joint long-term fish monitoring plan.
• The Department of Environment and the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun continue to implement long-term fish monitoring efforts in the area.

Animal health

Fish health:

• The death of a large group of fish, of multiple species in a short period of time is consistent with cyanide toxicity.
• Cyanide:
  • kills fish quickly and indiscriminately when levels exceed the acute guidelines for the protection of aquatic life;
  • causes death by interfering with oxygen metabolism and is rapidly absorbed through gills;
  • breaks down rapidly in body tissue after death, making it challenging to test and confirm cyanide toxicity as the cause of death; and
  • does not bioaccumulate. Animals eating fish that have died from cyanide toxicity will not have increased levels of cyanide in their tissue.
• There are few signs of illness in fish before they die and any abnormalities in the body caused by cyanide also disappear quickly as decomposition occurs – especially in warm temperatures.

Ungulate monitoring:

• The Department of Environment is monitoring other compounds that could have been released such as heavy metals like cadmium, mercury or lead and others that can accumulate in animal body tissue over time.
• The Department of Environment’s Animal Health Unit is asking hunters harvesting moose and caribou north of Mayo to collect liver, kidney, muscle and incisor bar samples and freeze them as soon as possible before dropping them at Department of Environment offices.
• Sampling kits are available at the offices of the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun and at Government of Yukon Mayo, Dawson City and Whitehorse district offices.
• Samples will help establish baseline data for long-term monitoring.
• Testing is not to confirm whether meat or organs from a harvested animal are safe to consume.
• Results from submitted samples are expected in spring 2025.
• Details including the list of applicable Game Management Subzones are available at Yukon.ca/Victoria-Gold-Updates.

Health update:

• There is no indication that the discharge of water has increased the risk to human health in the area. The regulated drinking supply remains safe and the risk to hunters and land users from the heap leach failure remains low.