Whitehorse Daily Star

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Bob Holmes

Experts to assess risks of mine closure plan

The Yukon government has hired two independent experts to assist with its risk assessment of closure plans for the Wolverine Mine.

By Chuck Tobin on March 20, 2015

The Yukon government has hired two independent experts to assist with its risk assessment of closure plans for the Wolverine Mine.

Bob Holmes of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources explained this morning the Yukon Zinc Corp. is already out of step with the Temporary Closure Plan that was signed off by the Yukon government.

The plan called for the company to keep the underground workings free of water, heated and ventilated, he pointed out.

Holmes said since shutting down operations in January, the company has turned off the water pumps, the heat and the ventilation, and is currently allowing flooding of the underground.

One of the experts hired is assessing whether the flooding will affect stability of the underground and hinder – or prevent – the company’s return to the ore deposit when and if it’s ready, said the director of the mineral resources branch.

He said another expert has been hired to assess the potential for environmental problems, given the unanticipated flooding of the underground during what is supposed to be a temporary closure and not the permanent closure.

The approved plan for permanent closure has always involved flooding the underground and sealing it off with cement pillars, he pointed out.

Holmes said the assessment will also look at how flooding now may affect the ability to place the cement pillars.

Waste rock from the operation is also supposed to be placed underground as development occurs and eventually sealed off during permanent closure, he explained.

Holmes said there are two piles of waste rock still sitting on the surface as the mine begins to flood.

There is also the issue of the tailings pond but nothing is pressing because the pond is nowhere near capacity and therefore no water is yet leaving the site, he pointed out.

“The underground is the one that is the most concern to us right now,” said Holmes.

“We have told them they have to do a study for us on how the underground would be recoverable after a period of flooding.”

The Chinese-owned Yukon Zinc announced in late January it was shutting down operations because of the instability of mineral prices, particularly silver.

It announced back then it would revisit the decision in a few months.

Last Friday, the company received court protection from companies it owes money to. And yesterday, the B.C. Supreme Court approved an interim financial plan that will see Yukon Zinc borrow $8 million to keep things going until July 31.

At its peak, the company employed approximately 150 people.

Today, there are 12 employees at the mine looking after care and maintenance of the site southeast of Ross River and another 13 at the head office in Vancouver, according to court documents.

Of the $647 million Yukon Zinc owes, $595 million is owed to its Chinese parent company.

The remaining debt is spread out among 300 or so companies, including 42 Yukon companies which are owed a combined total of $4.3 million, according to court documents.

Individual debts in the Yukon range from $273 for supplies from Jarand Building Products in Watson Lake to $2.2 million owed to AFD Petroleum in Whitehorse.

Sidhu Trucking is owed $541,458 while MacPherson rentals is owed $40,563.

Among the Yukon creditors is the Ross River Dena Council, which is owed $137,206 and the Ross River Cultural Society, which is owed $15,893.

Yukon Zinc has put up $7.7 million for its reclamation security but is behind in scheduled payments after missing the $350,000 instalment scheduled for last Oct. 31 and another $450,000 payment scheduled for Jan. 31.

The reclamation security is held by the Yukon government to ensure the cost of permanent closure is covered if the company runs into problems, though it’s not intended to assist with temporary closures.

Court documents indicate Yukon Zinc cannot afford to fulfill the requirements of the Temporary Closure Plan it negotiated with the Yukon government.

The documents indicate it’s in discussion with the government to see how it can alter the plan to reduce its cost.

Holmes said he expects to have the risk assessments from the two independent experts in a couple of weeks, and certainly before April 10, when Yukon Zinc is required to be in court again to report on its progress.

Court documents also indicate the value of the Wolverine Mine is significant.

Holmes pointed out that even before the closure in late January, Yukon Zinc had been ordered by the Yukon Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board to complete ground control work where the underground water pumps were situated.

The work was never done, he said.

There have been two deaths at the Wolverine Mine, one of them occurring when a wall sloughed in on a drilling crew.

Comments (7)

Up 21 Down 8

ProScience Greenie on Mar 23, 2015 at 3:38 pm

Brewery Creek was successfully shut down and reclaimed. Cantung is working away cleaning the place up and even reprocessing the tailings and putting them back underground I hear. Tons of great placer reclamation work is going on out there. While we have to keep going after those that leave a mess we must also acknowledge those that do good work.

Up 4 Down 0

Yukon Foley on Mar 22, 2015 at 9:08 am

Interesting video here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO4heWaxo0Q

Up 11 Down 5

Yukon Foleys on Mar 22, 2015 at 7:19 am

The EMR, YWCHSB and YTG need to work together with regards to this situation YWCHSB demanded that no one enter the mine and the fans and pumps be shut down but EMR says opposite. You think that they would have spare time as there is only one mine left running (for how long...who know thanks to Yukon Water Board for their ineptitude to be able to produce a license in a timely manner to a good corporate company). Is this the same fellow who was featured in a YZC New Years video last year made for China? Google it on YouTube. He seems to carry a different tune then. Not sure how many work at EMR or other related YTG Departments but why every time there is work to do $$ experts have to be called in??

Up 19 Down 16

YTminer on Mar 22, 2015 at 6:47 am

Wolverine Mine employed well over 300 people at its peak including many Yukoners that purchased homes, vehicles, etc. and contributed to the local economy.

Up 19 Down 20

Yukon Max Yter out touch on Mar 21, 2015 at 12:55 pm

Your are not close to the truth at all. The Yukon Government has a lot of the mines money - $10 of millions to us if necessary to reclaim the mine. Second the Chinese do not want to lose their heavy investment in the Yukon in other projects.
Third the Chinese don't want to effect their relationship with Canada because they have billions in Canada.
Fourth the mining industry runs in cycles that is the nature of the business.
Fifth the Yukon has some of if not best regulatory systems in Canada when it comes to resources development.
Sixth it is great to be perfect and not base comments in fact or science.

Up 15 Down 10

YukonMax on Mar 21, 2015 at 12:17 pm

The problem here with the Yukon Government is that they "tend" to hire only the consultants willing to produce a report that is favorable to their plans.

Up 15 Down 6

YTer on Mar 20, 2015 at 10:26 pm

I think it's time to have a really long, careful discussion on what the public should be expecting with respect to the safe shutdown and reclamation of hard rock and open pit mines in The Yukon.
I don't think there is one of the aforementioned types of mines that have undergone a successful reclamation. They are all currently being monitored for water quality. Maybe this is what we should be expecting as opposed to being told that a reclamation plan is in place, because clearly, these plans are not worth anything, as Wolverine has illustrated.

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