Canada puts its big miners off limits just as M&A is heating up
Foreign takeovers of mining companies have been a touchy topic ever since a wave of deals 18 years ago took out some of the country’s biggest players.
Canada’s Yukon Territory said elevated levels of cyanide were detected in a waterway near Victoria Gold Corp.’s Eagle mine after an equipment failure and landslide at the site.
Yukon Mining Minister John Streicker told local media on Thursday that the heightened cyanide concentrations were detected in a creek near the mine site, which “could potentially affect fish.” The comments come hours after Toronto-based Victoria Gold said it hasn’t detected elevated cyanide levels downstream of its property.
The Canadian bullion producer suspended operations last week at the Eagle site, the largest mine in the Yukon, following a heap leach failure. Heap leaching involves stacking mined ore into piles and then sprinkling it with cyanide-laced water.
Shares of Victoria Gold plunged 82% following the incident. The stock rose 9.2% to 95 Canadian cents on Thursday after the company denied detecting elevated cyanide levels.
Victoria Gold said Thursday that production will remain suspended and that it has received notices of default from its lenders under a 2020 credit agreement.
(By Jacob Lorinc)
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