An investigation into the cause of the the heap leach incident at Victoria Gold’s (TSXV: VGCX) eagle mine in Canada’s Yukon Territory is now underway, the CBC reported on Friday afternoon.
The mine had been suspended since the heap leach pad failure on June 24 that caused a massive landslide and unleashed 280,000-300,000 cubic metres of cyanide-containing solution into the environment, according to government estimates.
The investigation is led by a three-person independent review board appointed by the Yukon government, consisting of a geotechnical expert who has consulted on permafrost engineering and dam construction, a senior civil engineer with experience in mine development and reclamation, and an engineer with experience in gold heap leaching.
The review is being funded through the receivership of Victoria, which was announced in mid-August after the Yukon government requested to take greater control over cleanup and impact mitigation efforts after the Eagle mine incident.
The review is part of the government’s response to what it calls a “catastrophic failure and its impact on the environment and human health and safety.” Among the items under review are the design, construction, operation, maintenance and monitoring of the heap leach facility.
“Understanding the causes of the failure will help inform remediation of the failure, possible options for a future restart of mine operations at Eagle Gold, as well as other future operations in the Yukon,” the Yukon government stated in a news release Friday.
The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, which had previously expressed concerns about being left out of the review given that the mine is situated within its traditional territory, also has an “open invitation” to join the independent review board at any time, it added.
The review is expected to take six to eight months and the results will be made public.
