An aerial view of the Eagle Gold Mine. Photo Courtesy of Victoria Gold.
Whitehorse, YT – Victoria Gold Corp. announced that the Yukon Government has asked a court to appoint a receiver to take control of the company and its assets following a heap leach facility failure at the Eagle Gold Mine.
The Na-Cho Nyäk Dun First Nation (NNDFN) filed for a court-appointed receiver yesterday, August 13th which matches a separate application for receivership the Yukon Government filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
“Every mitigation measure must be implemented to protect the lands, waters, fish, wildlife and the people impacted by this disaster,” said NNDFN Chief Dawna Hope. “We have no confidence that Vic Gold is in a financially stable enough position to repair the environmental damages its failures have caused, and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun has lost confidence in their ability to manage the response to this disaster.”
The Yukon Party Official Opposition says the Yukon Government needs to explain why they have taken this court action.
In a press release from the Yukon Party, they state that they want to ensure Yukoners can return to work, Yukon businesses will get paid and taxpayers won’t foot the bill for the environmental cleanup.
“The position of the Yukon Party Official Opposition remains that the best possible outcome is for the company to retain control of the site, complete and pay for the environmental clean-up, and develop a plan to bring the mine back into production,” reads the Yukon Party release.
In a Victoria Gold press release from August 14th, the company says they plan to challenge this court application.
This article was updated to include further details from the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun First Nation and the Yukon Party.
