“(Victoria is) diverting water, amassing it, doing plenty of work proper now to attempt to deal with it. That’s to not say it’s sufficient, however it’s to say there may be motion being undertaken,” Haney mentioned. “We’re taking a look at all of the eventualities proper now, and a kind of eventualities is the place we might be taking up actions on the website in a extra full method.”
Her feedback got here virtually one month after the corporate suspended operations at Eagle following the heap leach spill and landslide that unleashed 4 million tonnes of fabric, with half leaving the pad’s containment. Between 280,000 and 300,000 cubic metres of cyanide-containing answer left the containment, in response to authorities estimates. Victoria’s share worth plummeted greater than 85% over the last week of June. The one-asset firm now has a market cap of C$45.3 million.
Victoria has issued three information releases because the accident. It has not responded to a number of requests for remark. Haney referred to as Victoria’s sparse communication in regards to the accident and its cleanup actions “unlucky and unhelpful.” The exact reason for the accident is being investigated.
‘Can’t deal with therapy’
Officers have ordered Victoria to extend its contaminated water storage capability to 150,000 cubic metres by July 29 as a result of its current ponds are virtually full.
“As a short lived measure, the corporate is creating further space for storing by pumping water from the storage ponds via the heap,” which it can do for 10 to fifteen days, Kelly Constable, director of mineral sources with the EMR division mentioned in the course of the briefing. That’s meant to carry the water till it may be handled and launched into the atmosphere.
However Constable added that Victoria’s water plant can’t deal with all of the contaminants within the water, and it’s attempting to improve the ability with the assistance of Lincoln Engineering. These upgrades might take a number of weeks.
“It wasn’t contemplated that the contamination ranges could be as excessive as they’re,” Haney mentioned.
‘Lack of transparency’
Whereas these options would possibly suffice briefly, they’re really the lesser of evils, mentioned Adrienne Hill, from the First Nation of Na-cho Nyak Dun’s (FNNND) Treaty Implementation Division.
“Re-circulating contaminated water again onto the pad as an emergency measure as a result of there’s nowhere to place it, shouldn’t be ideally suited,” Hill mentioned in an interview after the briefing. “We don’t assume the Yukon authorities is being clear about how dire the scenario is.”
As a part of the water therapy effort, the corporate moved important on-site employees to short-term in a single day camps close to the mine, which The Northern Miner discovered about earlier this week from a leaked doc.
“The present camp is positioned inside the path of the (land)slide space,” Haney mentioned, including that Victoria determined by itself to maneuver the employees with no orders from the federal government.
Victoria has met authorities deadlines to arrange growth plans on remediation, together with for water move, slope stability and water therapy, authorities spokesperson John Thompson mentioned.
Decrease cyanide threat
Outcomes from testing on July 4 confirmed a cyanide degree of 0.04 mg per litre, which is above the aquatic life guideline of 0.005 mg per litre, however lower than earlier assessments, Tyler Williams, a water sources scientist from the Division of Atmosphere, mentioned in the course of the briefing.
Additional floor water testing on July 8 and 10 returned outcomes under these pointers.
Testing of groundwater samples within the space on July 5 and 10 revealed a detectable degree of thiocyanate, a secure and fewer poisonous type of cyanide that doesn’t have an aquatic life guideline, Williams mentioned.
Although the federal government nonetheless should ship its water samples to a laboratory in British Columbia for testing, it has requested the turnaround time to be shortened to 5 to seven days.
‘Excessive considerations about water’
However whereas the thiocyanate discovered within the groundwater assessments may not be as poisonous as cyanide, that outcome gives little re-assurance to the FNNND, Chief Dawna Hope mentioned.
“We have now excessive considerations that (cyanide is) sitting within the floor water,” she instructed The Northern Miner. “We’re undecided the place these numbers are coming from regarding the groundwater. We’re undecided how deep the wells are.”
First Nation groups examined floor water after the June 24 accident and sought proof of injury to crops and wildlife. Hope mentioned one lifeless fish has been discovered.
It additionally carried out lidar testing utilizing drones to observe floor water, and its technical group is reviewing 17,000 photos, Hill mentioned.
‘Pause on mining’
Hope clarified that regardless that the First Nation referred to as for a moratorium on mining actions on its conventional territory after the Eagle accident, it’s not towards mining. Fairly, it needs a short lived pause whereas the cumulative results of the accident might be assessed, and afterwards sustainable mining actions ought to be pursued.
A number of contracting corporations related to the FNNND labored at Eagle, and the suspension of operations there has pressured them to hunt work elsewhere. Hill mentioned the financial loss from the tip of royalty funds after the accident is “important.”