Victoria Gold Corporation facility to be placed in receivership over safety issues
The Government of Yukon has seized a gold mine from Victoria Gold Corporation, saying that is has lost confidence in its management amid health and safety and environmental concerns.
An Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted an application last Friday to appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers as official receiver of the assets of Victoria Gold Corp. including the Eagle Mine.
The mine stopped operations in June when the government claimed that local rivers were contaminated by cyanide, killing wildlife. Victoria Gold used cyanide-laced water in its mining process but denies responsibility for the contamination.
The Yukon government says that it is not confident in Victoria Gold management taking the matter “seriously or to respond to the urgency the situation demands.”
“Immediate action is required to respond to the heap leach failure and its consequences for the land, water, people and wildlife in the Traditional Territory of the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun,” said Yukon’s minister of justice and attorney general Tracy-Anne McPhee in a statement. “The Government of Yukon is concerned that Victoria Gold Corp. does not possess the capacity itself and has failed to carry out the work that is required. The company has failed to comply with several formal directions issued by the Government of Yukon that require specific measures to be undertaken to address human health and safety and environmental risks and impacts.”
Mitigation work will be undertaken and the government will provide funding to the receiver to enable this. Longer term, it is intended that mining will be able to resume at the facility once the necessary work has been done to ensure safety and environmental security.
“Going forward, we will continue to communicate closely with the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun as we work with the receiver and Lead Environmental Consultant to undertake the required mitigation work. We will continue to use the legal mechanisms at our disposal to hold Victoria Gold responsible for the cost of this work and for the protection of human health and safety and the environment.”
The company has not made any further comments apart from a brief statement updating investors.
