Yukon placer gold miners face new regulations on three

Placer miner Jack Fraser says his roots are firmly planted in the Klondike, the Yukon’s historic placer mining region which is being hit by low gold prices and new environmental regulations.

“This’ll be our 18th consecutive season,” said the 59-year-old Dawson City resident, who traps in the wintertime.

Every summer, he mines for gold with his two sons, “an old D-8, a D-6, and a 950 loader” on a relatively small operation.

Fraser’s placer mine is one of about 160 active in the Yukon, according to the Klondike

Placer Miners Association (KPMA), although federal officials peg the number at 220.

The industry has been in a slump — low gold prices and a stronger dollar meant only $36 million worth of gold was shipped out last year, down from $46 million in 1990 and $57.6 million in the record year of 1989. “There’s certainly not a mass collapse of the industry at this point,” Fraser said, “but it has been dropping off the last 2-3 years.

“The amount of equipment around that is for sale is a pretty good indication — a lot of Cats, loaders and pumps and sluice boxes of various types…” While gold prices remain low, Fraser said placer miners are also grappling with uncertainty about a host of new environmental regulations. If common sense prevails, Fraser said the regulations may not be that severe. But he’s worried that too many changes could escalate some miners’ expenses so much that they’ll have to shut down.

The changes are coming on three fronts, said Alan Fry, executive assistant for the KPMA in Whitehorse.

The federal Northern Inland Waters Act is being replaced by a Yukon Waters Act. That legislation is working its way through Parliament now, Fry said. While placer miners did have consultation on this legislation, Fry said he hopes further industry input will be sought while the regulations are developed.

Fry said the Yukon Fisheries Protection Authorization under the Fisheries Act is also undergoing major revisions, through the Yukon Placer Implementation Review Committee and also with placer miner involvement.

The authorization classifies creeks depending on the fish they support, if any, and sets out waste discharge standards accordingly.

Thirdly, Fry said land use regulations will soon be applicable on placer claims and leases.

Placer miners agree there’s a need to update regulations, Fry said, but there is concern about the changes being contemplated.

“We’re in major, major problems with government on the nature of those regulations,” he said. “There’s a real danger of overkill here.” While each change taken on its own has some justification, what it adds up to is considerable added costs for the industry, Fry said, adding that “it’s going to put some operators out of business.”

Fraser said that for him, the scariest aspect is the water discharge standards.

Currently, miners may release no more than 5 mm per litre of “settleable” solids into traditional placer mining creeks without fish in them. The standards are tighter for fish-supporting rivers such as the salmon-spawning Klondike River.

Fraser said he can live with existing standards, but not anything more restrictive.

“You gotta have a little bit of leeway there,” he said.

Fraser said he’s not thinking of quitting yet, but he said he’s at the age where it won’t make much difference to him.

“There are a lot of miners in that age group, from late 40s to 70s. Like I say, it won’t make that much difference to them, but we’re certainly worried about the younger generation,” he said.

Fraser said placer miners in their 30s may have trouble re-entering the workforce in another decade, if the industry becomes uneconomic.