Ch. 3 Land - Environment Yukon

first bar of gold on November 23, 1996
and operated sporadically until
February 1999. The mine went into
voluntary receivership on March 23,
1999 but the receivers abandoned the
site on July 28, 1999.
DIAND Water Resources has taken
over operation of the water treatment
facilities 5 (see water chapter). The
future of the Mount Nansen Gold Mine
is uncertain at this time. If appropriate
treatment does not take place and if
the integrity of the impoundment
structures are compromised, there will
likely be significant damage to water,
fish and wildlife. Concerns have been
raised by the Little Salmon Carmacks
First Nation, regarding impacts to the
wildlife from ingestion of contaminated
waters. Studies proposed for 2001 will
examine the level of contaminants in
local vegetation.
Faro
The lead-zinc mine near Faro consists of
three open pits. Of the three open pits
developed on the minesites, two (Faro
and Vangorda) are depleted of
economic ore reserves while the third
(Grum) contains up to five years of
mineable ore reserves.
While the Faro mine has provided
employment and income to the Yukon
over a period of thirty years, there may
be differing perceptions from people
who live a traditional life style.
Local First Nation Elder, Charlie Dick,
speaks about the Faro mine:
“The place where I used to hunt years
ago, I call it my farm back then, that’s
where we used to gather as Native
people. We went there to dry out meat;
we hunted our gophers there; we got
our ground hogs there. But now when
I go to this place, there’s a big mountain
that has been removed by the mining
company and the place where I used to
hunt is no longer there. That makes my
heart hurt and makes me feel sad just to
think about it.”
The Faro property has been operated
by three main companies since 1969
and currently is in receivership for the
second time. In 1996, Anvil Range
Mining Corporation filed the Integrated
Comprehensive Abandonment Plan
with the Yukon Territory Water Board
which outlines proposed decommissioning
activities. The plan is still under
review.
The chronology of events at the
largest mine in the Yukon is shown on
page 48.
Reclamation work has consisted of
small re-vegetation plots in the Vangorda
Plateau in 1996. Approximately
10 hectares were seeded with a mixture
of fescues, rye, wheat and clover,
and were fertilized during the first season.
Most plots continue to support
healthy growth of grasses. DIAND funded
physical reclamation work in 1994
and 1998 which involved re-sloping
and providing a till cover on sections of
the Vangorda waste dump. Some
revegetation work has been completed
on these slopes 6. In September 1999,
DIAND funded a project to salvage
scrap steel from the Faro minesite. It is
expected that over a thousand tonnes
of metal will be removed before the
winter of 1999 7. Long term reclamation
requirements for the minesites are
included in the two water licences and
may undergo further investigation.
Although some reclamation work is
progressing, this represents a small
portion of what will be required. The
estimated figure for clean–up is around
$100 million. The water licence for the
Vangorda Plateau minesite requires
perpetual collection and treatment of
minesite effluent (see water chapter).
Keno-Elsa
The United Keno Hill Mines property,
in the Elsa and Keno areas, consists of
several underground and open-pit silverlead-zinc
mines. The Elsa operation has
been in production since the initial
discovery of silver in 1906. The mill
last operated in 1989 and exploration
and development has occurred
sporadically since then, mainly at the
Bellekeno and Silver King Mines. The
property is currently under care and
maintenance.
Minto
Minto Explorations Ltd is proposing to
develop the Minto property that would
entail an open pit and underground
operation, waste rock piles, a thickened
tailings storage facility, ore crushing
facility and conventional copper
flotation mill. Permitting is in place with
the granting of a type A water licence
in May 1998 and a Quartz Mining
Licence in October 1999, but start up
of operations is not expected until
some time in 2000 due to current low
copper prices.
Ketza River
The mine at Ketza River, east of Ross
River, is currently under care and
maintenance. During the second week
in October 1999, a sulphur dioxide
leak from a storage tank was detected.
Although the tank was thought to be
empty, there was some residual gas
remaining. Pressure had built up over
time and the gas had leaked out
through a rusty valve. The gas is toxic
and combines with water to create
sulphuric acid. Government officials
removed the threat by releasing the
pressure in the tank and replaced the
valve. The mine owner, YGC Resources
Ltd. is responsible for cleaning up and
remediating the site (8, 9).
Several projects are in the development
stage: Dublin Gulch/New Millennium
Mining Limited near Mayo, Kudz Ze
Kayah/Cominco near Finlayson Lake,
and Carmacks Copper/ Western
Copper Holdings Ltd near Carmacks.
These projects have either been
through the environmental screening or
are in the final stages of environmental
assessments.
C H A P T E R 3 L A N D ❧ 4 9