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Water tests for cyanide show conflicting results

The Yukon government is finally releasing more information on the situation at the Eagle Mine near Mayo.

And Victoria Gold Corp., the company which owns the mine, finally broke its silence – sort of – today.

The company issued a news release just before the government held a technical briefing this morning on water test results.

In its release, Victoria Gold stated it had not found any cyanide contamination in numerous water samples taken downstream of the site where a heap leach pad landslide occurred on June 24. Cyanide is used in the gold extraction process.

“To date, continued environmental surface water quality sampling at multiple points downstream of the property has not detected any cyanide,” the release stated.

That’s in sharp contrast to the results of government-backed tests, which have found low amounts of cyanide in some areas, and more significant results in the Haggart Creek area.

Those results indicate there’s enough cyanide in the water to potentially affect fish in combination with other contaminants.

Victoria Gold has also given indications that it is in financial difficulties following the landslide, which has shut down the mine.

“The Company advises that it has received Notices of Default from its lenders under the Credit Agreement dated December 18, 2020,” it says in its release.

Another source told The Yukon Star Wednesday it’s believed the company is likely to file for bankruptcy in the next two months or sooner.

John Streicker, the minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, fielded most of today’s questions from reporters.

“These are the first verified samples,” Streicker said.

Kelly Constable, the government’s director of mineral resources, provided a recap of the situation, with some new details.

She said the slide was 1.5 kilometres long and that more than two million tonnes of material escaped confinement at the mine. She stressed that it’s too early to identify a cause for the landslide, repeating what she’d said last week.

Streicker said the Eagle Mine site had seen several fires, as well as the loss of power and difficulty getting supplies in. There is a wildfire burning in the area, complicating access.

At one point, supplies were being ferried across the river to the site to allow work to continue.

Constable, along with Streicker, also emphasized that cleanup and remediation efforts at the mine are solely the responsibility of the company.

“It’s the company’s responsibility, not the government’s,” Constable said.

The government has also told Victoria Gold to provide updated fire and water plans by the end of this week.

In response to more questions from reporters, Streicker said the government is fully prepared to “step in” if necessary to take over the site management.

Streicker was reluctant to provide a direct response when he was asked what the government would do about the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun demanding an immediate stop to all mining on its lands until the incident can be reviewed by an independent organization and a land management plan agreed upon.

He was asked the question by consecutive reporters.

At first, Streicker said any such pause to mining would mean Victoria Gold would have to leave the Eagle Mine site – ending its efforts to minimize the damage.

When pressed, he doubled-down on that point, but eventually said the demand was “something the government would look at.”

No representatives from Nacho Nyak Dun were at the briefing.

Streicker and his team also had no good explanation for the disparity in results between the company’s and the government’s water samples.

So few samples have been taken so far and at different points and times that the results were understandable, he said. The differences might eventually work themselves out and the reliability of the results should improve with sampling.

He said there could have been “false positives and false negatives.”

Water samples are scheduled to be taken every two days for testing.

Nacho Nyak Dun officials will also be taking their own samples. The first of its results is expected later today or tomorrow.

Victoria Gold shares have tumbled on the stock market to less than a dollar a share.

SHARING THE DATA – Government officials held a media briefing this morning on water test results following the June 24 Eagle Mine landslide. From left to right are Bruce Milligan, Director of Workplace Health and Safety for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board; Sevn Bohnet, Manager of Major Mines and Operations North; Will Tewnion; Erin Dowd, Manager of Major Mine Licensing; Kelly Constable, Director of Mineral Resources; Stephen Mead, Assistant Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources; and John Streicker, minister Energy, Mines and Resources. (Vince Fedoroff / The Yukon Star)

T.S Giilck

T.S. Giilck, News Reporter, has more than 30 years experience as a reporter, including work for the Whitehorse Star and CKRW Whitehorse radio.

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