Victoria Gold (TSXV: GCX) has suspended operations at its Eagle mine in the Yukon after an accident at its heap leach pad. There were no injuries, the company said.
The site operations teams and management are working on assessing the situation and gathering information, the company said in a release Monday. Eagle, the territory’s only producing gold mine, is located about 375 km north of Whitehorse.
“At this early stage, it can be confirmed that there has been some damage to infrastructure and a portion of the failure has left containment,” Victoria said. “There have been no injuries to personnel associated with the incident.”
Shares in Victoria Gold plunged 83% to $1.25 apiece in Toronto on Tuesday, valuing the company at $84.6 million. They’ve traded as high as $9.45 over the past 52 weeks.
Watch this video shot from a plane by The Northern Miner.
Satellite images
The failure is 1.3 km long, according to satellite images by San Francisco-based Planet Labs shown by The Landslide Blog, a world leader in landslide analysis.
“Judging by the satellite image, the landslide is large – about 1,430 metres from crown to toe (along the landslide track) and a maximum of about 370 metres wide,” blogger Dave Petley says in a posting that compares before and after satellite photos.
Petley, vice-chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom, is widely recognized as a global expert in the study and management of landslides, according to Eos. It’s a science website that carries the blog and is run by the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C.
Below are before and after satellite images from Planet Labs.
A satellite image of the Eagle mine this month before the accident. Image © Planet Labs PBC.
A satellite image of the mine on Tuesday. Image © Planet Labs PBC.
Yukon’s Department of Energy, Mines and Resources said by email on Tuesday its officers will investigate the accident.
The primary leaching pad can accommodate as much as 90 million tonnes of ore, according to a Victoria Gold technical report. The pad is located about 1.2 km north of the main Eagle zone orebody.
Local concerns
The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (FNNND) said in a statement posted on Facebook that it’s deeply concerned about the heap leach failure and landslide at Eagle and the “potentially significant and far-reaching environmental impacts” to water, fish and wildlife in the area. Eagle is located on FNNND traditional territory.
“This is a deeply serious incident and we are monitoring it closely, with our staff on the ground and with our partners in public government,” FNNND Chief Dawna Hope said. “Our first priority is to minimize the impacts on our lands, waters and wildlife as well as on FNNND and any other affected First Nations. We will then seek to understand how and why this occurred.”
The Northern Miner has requested further comment from Victoria and from the Yukon government. The company canceled an appearance at the Yukon Mining Investment Conference in Dawson City Monday.
The mine produced 1.9 million tonnes in the first quarter for 29,580 oz. of gold; and 8.5 million tonnes in 2023 for 166,730 ounces.
About 500 people work at Eagle not including contractors and consultants.
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