Receiver planning sale of Yukon gold mine involved in contaminant release disaster

By Canadian Press on June 22, 2025.

The court-appointed receiver of a Yukon gold mine that suffered a catastrophic heap-leach facility failure last year says it plans to sell the mine and will be seeking approval within the week to start the process.

In its fifth receiver’s report issued earlier this month, PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. says it will seek court approval for a sale process for the Eagle Gold Mine near Mayo, Yukon, in a motion scheduled to be heard Wednesday in an Ontario court.

Eagle Gold Mine was the site last June where a containment failure at the heap-leach facility released about two-million tonnes of cyanide-laced ore and water into the environment.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was made receiver of the mine last year by an Ontario court through an application by the Yukon government.

In an email, the territory’s government confirms the receiver is planning to begin a sales process by July for the Eagle Gold Mine, if it were to be approved by the court.

But the territory also says it is “premature to say what the process will look like,” stating that it will likely be “robust, transparent and fair” since it is subject to court supervision.

“The Government of Yukon is a key stakeholder as the main mining regulator and lender to the Receiver, and it will ensure that the interests of Yukoners are protected and communicated to the Receiver,” the government’s statement said.

“Right now, the focus of the government and the Receiver is to address environmental remediation and site safety.”

The Yukon government said earlier this month that the work is continuing at the mine site to manage additional water from the spring snowmelt, while water contaminated from the failure is being treated and discharged.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2025.

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press