US EditionYukon 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.
32 Articles
32 Articles
Yukon disaster one of two ‘most catastrophic’ in heap-leach mining history: expert
An engineer tasked with reviewing the spill of about two million tonnes of cyanide-soaked ore at a Yukon gold mine says it was one of the two “most catastrophic failures” in the 45-year history of the heap-leaching mining process.
Winnipeg Free Press
Yukon disaster one of two 'most catastrophic' in heap-leach mining history: expert
Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada
The official report of the 24 June 2024 landslide at Eagle Gold Mine
The Independent Review Board has released its report into a 6 million cubic metre landslide in Canada. It indicates that an initial rotational failure triggered a flow slide that travelled 1,400 metres. On 24 June 2024, a very large landslide affected a heap leach facility (HLF) at the Eagle Gold Mine in Yukon, Canada. I wrote about this event at the time. The failure was of sufficient scale to force the mine into administration – creating a ve…
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