An investigation report on the June 2024 landslide at the heap leach facility at Victoria Gold Corp.’s Eagle Gold Mine has found that the mining company didn't properly consider the cold climate conditions during its operations.
Meanwhile, the Yukon Department of Environment is declining to disclose certain records involving internal government communications related to the heap leach facility failure at the mine following an investigation by the Yukon information and privacy commissioner’s (IPC) office.
The department indicated it was dealing with an “urgent management crisis” in response to the mine disaster at the time of the communications, according to the IPC report.
'Fortuitous' timing
The Yukon Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board recently published a December 2024 report by Delve Underground Consulting Canada ULC on an investigation into the causes of the failure, which saw millions of cubic metres of ore slide down the slope.
The report concluded that “multiple fatalities” could have happened had the landslide occurred during the “working shift.”
A worker running a dozer previously told the News he was hurt during the slide. According to a ministerial briefing book prepared for the legislature’s fall 2024 sitting, the Yukon Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board confirmed one reported injury due to the failure and two instances of workers receiving first-aid treatment.
“The time of the failure between shifts was fortuitous as no one was severely injured during the event,” reads the December 2024 report.
The report contained some similar findings to a separate investigation by an independent review board that looked at the causes of the failure.
One of four factors that has been identified, in this case as a "potential stand-alone mechanism," was the widespread placement of ore in freezing conditions and operation of the heap leach facility in the winter. Those practices led to conditions not anticipated by the designers.
The thawing of the frozen layers may have caused changes in stress that resulted in static liquefaction, per the report. That means the heap suddenly lost strength, which can happen when granular material is loaded and can't drain properly.
The December 2024 report found an “apparent disconnect” between the design in the first place and the construction and operations in the Yukon's cold climate.
The site was effectively run and built without proper consideration of the climatic conditions and wasn't operated according to a 2015 study.
According to the report, the onus falls more so on the operator than the designers.
“The initial designers made allowance and changes to practices for the cold conditions, and the operators seemingly disregarded such practices,” the report states.
Withholding records
The IPC office’s investigation report, dated Sept. 4, suggests the Department of Environment “inappropriately withheld” records which is out of line with access-to-information law.
The IPC initially opened an investigation after someone complained to the office that the Environment department had only released some records in response to a request for information under access-to-information law, as noted in the adjudicator’s report.
Members of the public and media can submit requests for information held by a public body under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
A lack of law enforcement matters in the records and whether communications involved litigation and solicitor-client privilege, which means the right to obtain legal counsel without fear that the communications will be disclosed to anyone, are among issues the IPC adjudicator examined regarding the withheld information.
The public body was authorized to hold back some information such as some records that didn’t serve the public interest and involved advice or recommendations for the public body or minister, according to the adjudicator.
In response to the IPC office's investigation, which recommends releasing certain records, the Environment department doubled down on withholding some of those records, citing its reasons for rejecting the IPC adjudicator’s recommendations.
A response letter signed by deputy minister Dennis Berry indicates the email correspondence between staff in the Department of Environment and the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources that was requested has been withheld due to “legal privilege.”
As well, disclosure of the information, without the consent of Pricewaterhouse Coopers Inc., the receiver the Yukon government got put in charge of overseeing the mine's cleanup and sale process, would breach agreements and lead to repercussions.
“The Head determined that this information will remain redacted given the gravity and nature of the context and case at hand, the subject matter of the advice, and circumstances in which it is sought and rendered,” reads the department's response letter.
Berry’s letter suggests it’s the Yukon attorney general and deputy attorney general’s role to waive legal privilege; not the role of the information and privacy commissioner.
The person who launched the complaint now has the right to apply for a Yukon Supreme Court review.
Site update
In total up to Aug. 12, $47.7 million has been paid to local Yukon businesses for contract work ordered by the receiver and $13.1 million has gone to businesses owned by the First Nation of Na-cho Nyak Dun, according to a recent update by the receiver.
The August 2025 site update by the receiver notes that out of the 36 companies contracted to date, eight are Na-cho Nyak Dun Development Corporation affiliated businesses, four are owned by citizens of the First Nation and five other local Yukon contractors have been supporting the work.
Water treatment continues, with water being discharged from the treatment plant directly to Haggart Creek. The receiver is still trying to recover gold and stabilize the heap leach facility. Groundwater and environmental monitoring is ongoing, per the update.
Contact Dana Hatherly at [email protected]
