Victoria Gold Corp. warned today it may not have the means to clean up the Eagle Mine landslide site.

The company released a statement outlining its latest situation report following the June 24 landslide and collapse of the heap pad at the site north of Mayo.

In the release, the company said “production operations remain suspended and may not restart without authorization from the Yukon Director of Mineral Resources.”

“Victoria will continue to work to minimize impacts to the environment, with the safety of employees as a foremost priority.”

“There can be no assurance that the company will receive authorizations necessary to restart production, or that the company will have the financial resources necessary to repair damage to equipment and facilities or remediate impacts caused by the incident or restart production. The company will provide further updates in due course.”

The company said its focus “continues to be on the safety of its employees and mitigation of harm to the environment. As previously reported, the company has and will continue to liaise with the Government of Yukon, the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun (FNNND”, the Village of Mayo, the Yukon Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board and other regulatory authorities.”

The company went on to say, “Victoria Gold Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the incident. The company has engaged with its engineer of record for the HLF and is co-operating with third party technical experts retained by the Yukon Government and the FNNND.”

The company also says it is actively sampling water daily from multiple sample locations at the Eagle mine. 

“Victoria is actively sampling water daily from multiple sample locations at the Eagle mine. 

“Other than one sample, there has been no other detection of cyanide in final results at any of the water quality objective sampling locations received as of July 10, 2024 by the company, which include samples collected up to July 4, 2024.”

John Thompson, a communications analyst for the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, told the Star in a statement this afternoon that “the Government of Yukon is committed to ensuring appropriate actions are taken to protect the environment following the heap leach failure. Victoria Gold Corp. currently remains on the site, and we have been issuing directions to ensure appropriate responses are taken.”

The company has provided $104 million in financial security owed for the site.

“We collect financial security from all major mines in order to pay for reclamation and closure in the event of an operator failing to complete this work,” Thompson said. 

“The Yukon government may also use financial security in other, limited circumstances, as set out in the Quartz Mining Act and Waters Act.”