Yukon First Nation open to Eagle Gold mine restart as review lays out ways for industry to improve

The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun says it's not inherently opposed to the Eagle Gold mine restarting operations, as long as it goes to the right buyer.

Chief Dawna Hope said her government wants a specific player to take the mine over: A buyer with experience, who is committed to remediation, willing to partner with the First Nation and honour its treaty rights.

"We insist on responsible mining … because responsible mining also means profitable mining where Yukoners are not left with environmental destruction and the bill after mining failure occurs," Hope said.

The mine went up for sale on June 25. The mine's receiver, PricewaterhouseCoopers, is responsible for managing the sale, which must receive final approval in court. Potential buyers must meet with the Yukon government and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun before a sale is finalized.

The sale was scheduled to dovetail with the independent review, which was published on July 2 and explains what caused the heap leach failure, which sent tonnes of cyanide into the environment, closed the mine and forced the company into receivership.

The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun is still calling for a public inquiry into the mine failure, because it says key questions remain unanswered.

"It did not extend to thoroughly revealing the role or effectiveness of Yukon government as a regulator — as a contributor to this crisis," Hope said.

"I think that we need to continue to dig deeper into how this happened, to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Independent review board says Eagle mine failure was preventable

The independent review board tasked with investigating the Eagle mine failure says heap leach mining can be done safely, if changes are made to industry standards.

The board published a lengthy report July 2, including 50 recommendations for improvement. Mark Smith, one of the review board members, gave a technical briefing to media on July 8.

The report calls for more surveillance at future mines. The first recommendation says major facilities should have a technical review board to keep an eye on things for the entirety of the mine's life.

Smith said this is not a new idea. Mines with tailings facilities have had technical review boards as a global industry standard for years, as a result of mine failures plaguing the facilities.

"The failure rate of tailings dams with review boards is zero," Smith said. "I would think we can get to zero, or very close to zero, with review boards on heap leaches."

The report found that several problems at the mine contributed to the heap leach failure. If those problems had been resolved, the failure could have been prevented, Smith said.

"All five of those had to happen at the same time for this catastrophe to happen," Smith said.

According to the report, the company was stacking poor quality ore into the heap leach facility and steepened the facility's slope to make space for a road. There was an impaired ore collection system with malfunctioning equipment. The ore became oversaturated, eventually resulting in a landslide.

"Some things could have been done better, and some of those better practices could have reduced the failure," Smith said.

Yukon Chamber of Mines 'very pleased' with report findings

The report contains good news for the mining industry, according to Jonas Smith, executive director of the Yukon Chamber of Mines. Smith said the chamber is "very pleased" the report said heap leaching can be done safely. 

Now, the mining industry wants a seat at the table when the recommendations are considered, Smith said. He said the industry would be open to implementing technical review boards, for example, as a method of streamlining the current reporting process.

He said he thinks the Eagle Gold mine will have interested buyers.

"I think there's a lot of interest out there, given the price of gold these days, and the value of the operation," he said. 

"I think people are going to be looking for some certainty from the Yukon government on how quickly it can implement the recommendations from the report."