See every side of every news story
Published loading...Updated

Yukon disaster one of two ‘most catastrophic’ in heap-leach mining history: expert

YUKON, JUL 8 – The heap-leach failure released about two million tonnes of cyanide-soaked ore, prompting 50 safety recommendations from the independent review board, officials said.

  • An ore slope failed at the Eagle Gold Mine in central Yukon in June 2024, contaminating a local creek and groundwater.
  • The failure occurred after large-scale liquefaction caused by poor ore quality, an over-steepened slope, and a rising water table.
  • The incident released nearly two million tonnes of ore containing cyanide and was identified as one of the two most severe heap-leaching failures in the past 45 years.
  • The independent review board released 50 recommendations in early July 2025, with Mark Smith stating, "none of the recommendations are particularly expensive."
  • Yukon officials are reviewing the report, while Smith hopes the findings will improve surveillance and guide safer heap-leach practices industry-wide.
Insights by Ground AI
Does this summary seem wrong?

30 Articles

All
Left
11
Center
6
Right
2
Winnipeg Free PressWinnipeg Free Press
+22 Reposted by 22 other sources
Center

Yukon disaster one of two 'most catastrophic' in heap-leach mining history: expert

Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

·Winnipeg, Canada
Read Full Article

An engineer responsible for examining the spill of approximately two million tonnes of cyanide-filled ore into a Yukon gold mine states that it is one of the two "most catastrophic collapses" of the 45-year history of the heap leaching process. Mark Smith states that these two disasters last year, the other one in Turkey, "would define the next 10 to 20 years for heap leaching practices," which consist of extracting minerals from ore piles by po…

·Richelieu, Canada
Read Full Article
Think freely.Subscribe and get full access to Ground NewsSubscriptions start at $9.99/yearSubscribe

Bias Distribution

  • 58% of the sources lean Left
58% Left
Factuality

To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium

Ownership

To view ownership data please Upgrade to Vantage

Winnipeg Free Press broke the news in Winnipeg, Canada on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
Sources are mostly out of (0)