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The Yukon government has found elevated levels of cyanide in a creek downstream from Victoria Gold Corp.’s Eagle Gold mine where a landslide occurred on Monday.
Yukon’s energy and mines minister John Streicker said in a press conference on Thursday that a sample taken at the mine’s site indicated a cyanide presence of 8.58 mg per litre, which is a lot higher than the permitted level of 0.005 mg per litre or five parts per billion.
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The contaminated water is being diverted to a containment structure and will be treated by Victoria Gold, he said.
The sample collected from nearby Haggart Creek — which appears to be the main concern — indicated a cyanide presence of 0.04 mg per litre.
Yukon’s chief medical officer of health Sudit Ranade has recommended people stay away from the vicinity of the creek and to not utilize the water for recreational purposes.
“That’s more of a precautionary recommendation than a known feature,” said Ranade. “It’s just because there are some unknowns about some of the data that’s coming through.”
The creek’s water is not used as a drinking source and the water samples tested from the region’s regulated drinking water system further downstream don’t show any concern, Ranade added.
Streicker said that the level of cyanide in Haggart Creek could potentially affect fish, but more tests will be required to confirm that.
Situated about 350 km north of the Yukon’s capital Whitehorse, the Eagle Gold mine experienced a failure at its heap leach facility. A landslide that was 1.5 km in length caused the mine’s ore to spill over the embankment at the base of the facility.
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The slide involved about four million tonnes of material, according to Victoria Gold, half of which left containment.
After the slide, Victoria Gold built dams to hold back the contaminated water from being released from the slide material. This water is being pumped into storage ponds, government authorities said. There were no injuries reported.
Yukon authorities are yet to figure out what caused the heap leach failure.
Heap leaching involves stacking metal-bearing ore into a heap on an impermeable pad and irrigating the ore with a chemical solution to separate the desired metal from the ore at the base of the heap.
He added that technical experts have identified concerns regarding the stability.
Streicker said that technical experts identified concerns regarding the stability of the remaining heap including potential for further slides. Any additional slide has the potential to also risk further environmental contamination, he added.
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Victoria Gold has stopped mining at the site. There are currently 60 workers continuing water treatment activities, authorities said.
In a statement on Thursday, Victoria Gold said that environmental surface water quality sampling at multiple points downstream of the property has not detected any cyanide. It added that it has received notices of default from its lenders under a credit agreement.
• Email: nkarim@postmedia.com
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