Whitehorse Daily Star

YG rejects placer mine in Judas Creek area

The territorial government has accepted a recommendation to reject a proposal for a placer mine in the Marsh Lake area.

By Palak Mangat on July 19, 2018

The territorial government has accepted a recommendation to reject a proposal for a placer mine in the Marsh Lake area.

It’s not the first time it’s been rejected though.

The site that sits just 70 kilometres south of Whitehorse along Judas Creek was the subject of another application and rejection in 2015 handed down by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB).

The reasoning for the recommendation to the Yukon government to reject the proposal this time around seems fairly similar to the one three years ago.

That’s according to Nicolai Goeppel, who was listed as the proponent on the plan.

The Star was unable to reach him for comment in time for today’s publication. Howver, he did share his thoughts in late May after the initial recommendation for YG to reject the proposal was handed down.

Goeppel said then that the recommendation seemed like a “copy and paste” of the one from the board in 2015.

“It’s the second time I’ve put an application in, but it’s also over a decade of just hard work and time and money that I’ve put into the ground over there,” he said.

This year’s decision, issued earlier this week, cited adverse effects that cannot be mitigated for accepting the Teslin office’s recommendation.

Acknowledging that it is the second time the project has been proposed, the decision document said that changes to scale and scope were made to the project “to mitigate significant adverse effects on the Carcross Caribou Herd.”

Even with these modifications, it determined that there could still be “project-level and cumulative effects to the herd, including direct and indirect habitat loss.”

Goeppel said he had done his best to address these, saying “it was still the same result.

“So it’s quite disheartening.”

Seeing it as a missed opportunity, he wondered whether it would shut the door entirely to all mining-related activity in the area.

“If you can’t develop a small local placer mine like this, what chance is there for any hard-rock mining?”

He had said that he would not “bother doing another application” for that area.

“I think it’s more socially responsible for mining to occur in Canada where we have these regulations that protect and ensure we don’t have another Faro,” he said, referencing the abandoned Yukon lead-zinc site.

That site, which was abandoned by its owner, the Anvil Range Mining Corp. in 1998 after having opened in 1969, is now undergoing a remediation process by the federal and territorial governments.

Remediation is set to begin in 2022 and last up to 15 years.

Ottawa hopes to have a plan submitted to YESAB by this fall.

Cost estimates from 2013 billed the process at $590 million.

It’s a huge price to pay, Goeppel said, adding that was something he took into consideration when resubmitting his application for the second time.

“We still found a way to make it very minimal and still make it economic,” he said of the adverse effects cited in the decision.

“I wish we did it more sustainably – that’s where I find these small projects” are useful, he said, adding the rejection was a missed opportunity for what could have been.

The proposed site flowed through the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dün and Carcross-Tagish First Nations, along with the asserted traditional territory of Taku River Tlingit First Nation of B.C.

If accepted, it would have begun operations this summer into September for a period of five years.

The YG rejection was signed Monday.

YESAB’s recommendation to reject it was handed down May 27.

Comments (17)

Up 0 Down 0

Miss perfect and the backbeats on Jul 27, 2018 at 4:40 am

Wow. Didn‘t know we were talking here on such a low level. Raging about someone like this publicly with THIRD HAND information, that should be an offence.
I will stop writing here. I don’t want to be part of such a conversation.

BTW, working for the government, I know FIRST HAND that I‘m not responsible for my actions. I don’t blame myself or others, I blame the system.

Up 4 Down 9

north_of_60 on Jul 25, 2018 at 2:48 pm

This guy is lucky he's a member of a well-connected Yukon Lieberal family, or the punishment for his illegal road building would have been severe, and not just a slap on the wrist. Breaking the law and playing the victim card seems to be a family trait.

Up 6 Down 10

woodcutter on Jul 25, 2018 at 11:00 am

@miss perfect

What would I do. I would consider the implications before I pushed 17km of road into the bush with out approval. I would consider that this is a criminal offence and unlike many criminal offences, this one is impossible to cover up or to hide. I would wait until I had written and signed approval, knowing that assurances are not enough. I would consider that there is also jail time involved and that the fine is the small fee and that the lawyers cost would be the real expense. I would consider that having an exploration company "higher ground exploration services" attached to an activity like this would only do damage to my livelihood. I would consider that my actions would do nothing but bring shame and contempt to myself and would follow me around the Yukon for a very long time, if not forever. I would consider that the future would be greatly impacted by a short term gain, and it would paint me as either stupid or dishonest. I guess if you have to ask about what I would do, I would conduct myself as a "reasonable person" would, and not cry like he's the victim.

Don't cry fowl, it's not YG that acted in a manner that disrespects the people who live in the area, it wasn't YG that made such an egregious act that the judge even was shocked. He had the money to push 17km of road, which ain't cheap and now you complain about the cost of a small fine. This guy should have been tossed in jail, to send a message to anyone else. The result so far is a slap on the wrist and now folks of his ilk now think they can push roads anywhere and only get a small fine. Damn liberal courts, where is our justice system when they are needed?

He should be shut out of the privilege to hold any claims for at least 10 years. He's young, he can pay his pound of flesh to the citizens of the Yukon. Perhaps in that time he would gain some maturity and not be a repeat offender?

Up 7 Down 8

Soap Opera on Jul 25, 2018 at 9:47 am

Just look at all the melodrama about the 'poor young man' (ha ha ha!) who made a little mistake and only plead guilty because $13,500 would have broken the bank for his young little family (ha ha ha!). Oh give me a break. Talking about 'check the background check the facts'. I don't think Mr. Goeppel's going to be in the bread line any time soon.

So let's stop with the crying in the cornflakes. Next up, I read the proposal back before it was rejected. This was no small operation. It was massive destruction for that area. I think an infographic is in order. The amount of water, the amount of earth he wanted to be able to move.

Times may well be changing for the mining industry and it's long over due. The whole premise that miners, especially placer miners, should be able to waltz in from anywhere, blow things up, bulldoze trails, rip apart forests and riparian zones in order to get gold to stick in a bank somewhere; and if they can't, "someone has taken this away from me", is absurd.

Where is the net benefit for the Yukon? Where is the justification for the destruction? 18 cents an ounce in royalties? The diesel they bought from Exxon Mobile? The heavy equipment they bought from Caterpillar?

Look at what they cost us in reviews, inspections, and holding them to account in court. Get lost. This is not justified by the sob story of putting a little bread on the table for a small family.

I'm with the person who said, 'Boo Hoo'. That pretty much sums it up.

Up 4 Down 2

Salar on Jul 24, 2018 at 1:17 pm

@miss perfect

I doubt he would build a road without a permit...in the first place

Up 4 Down 7

Bandit on Jul 24, 2018 at 12:25 pm

@ Miss Perfect
2 Issues here.
1) I wouldn't plead guilty to anything if I was 100% innocent.
2) To answer what would you do?

I would do everything right so I wouldn't have to deal with #1 & #2

Up 13 Down 6

Miss Perfect on Jul 24, 2018 at 12:47 am

@woodcutter
Do you know the real reason why the guy plead guilty?

Nobody talks about the government for years fined people the wrong amounts.
There‘s a difference if you face 3 x $5000 fine or 3 x $500.
just another sneaky move by YG.
Wonder how others would decide if they'd rather be paying a possible $15000 or a possible $1500. Especially when you know you‘re having a youngster soon.
What would you do?

Up 12 Down 14

woodcutter on Jul 23, 2018 at 12:05 pm

@ Miss perfect

Of course I have to take responsibility for my mistakes, as a holder of two valid operational permits there is great liability attached to the privilege to be able to access and harvest a resource that belongs to all people of the Yukon. Operational plans and harvest criteria are established and any changes require a go-ahead from the folks at forestry. The other folks at Compliance and monitoring monitor and make reports and are key to ensuring that all operations are conducted in an agreed upon method. To try to say government employees are somehow not responsible and need to get into the real world is to attack a group of people who are not able to defend themselves because all the snowflakes would cry foul.

I don't by buy the story that there is more to it then he done, He plead guilty to building 17km of road to his unapproved claims based on some assurances from some one. He knew what he was doing was wrong and to now not take the fall out, beyond his $1200 fine is to now play the victim. He claims confusion in the rules, then he should have asked for clarity, which I have found is prudent when there is uncertainty. If I harvest outside my boundaries, I too could end up in court.

Sure it reasonable to make a mistake and have to suffer the consequences, that's life and his lesson seems to be that payment will be more then a small fine and a reputation that will follow him forever, as long as people remember.

I don't feel sorry for him, if he has to work somewhere else to feed his small kids. He should have thought about it before he dropped his blade and pushed. He did this out of greed and not need. There is lots of work in the Yukon if he's not too proud. Additional there is lots of men working in camps to feed their family, so to paint this guy as poor him is a stretch.

What would you suggest happen if a company or person were to consistently break the rules of the land? Give him another chance on a bigger project, or perhaps give him something smaller and make him prove himself? I know in my business, if you mess up too much, they will shut you down completely and forever, or they will make you post a larger cash bond.

Up 17 Down 8

Miss Perfect on Jul 21, 2018 at 7:48 am

@woodcutter
So I wonder what you do? Do you actually have to take responsibility for your actions or can you just f*** up and make mistakes without actually being accountable for it and you don’t have to take any responsibility? This is what it’s like for most people living in this territory (i.e. government employees) If people in this territory would actually live in reality they would realize that out in the real world people have to be responsible for their actions.
This guy took responsibility and paid for it more than anybody knows here. And yes there’s more to this trail building story, he might actually not be that bad guy that everybody calls him out! Maybe go and ask him what the real deal is before you talk bad about other people without actually knowing!
And really, if all the people who made big or small mistakes in their live’s and would also be held fully accountable for it would you still try to make all those peoples lives miserable so that they are not able to survive in their own home land anymore? Isn’t it normal to make a mistake and learn of it, accept it and do better from then on; with not being kicked in the “back end” again and again and again?
What would be your suggestion going forward from here? To not make this young family be separated because the husband has to work in a different province because he can’t earn his livelihood in his home territory anymore? Don’t you think it’s time to let him be? If it’s necessary to always have a bad guy to bit** about, maybe it’s time to find a new one before you destroy a young man’s life here!

Up 21 Down 7

Miles Klondike on Jul 20, 2018 at 1:52 pm

Honestly, it's time we cared more about caribou and bears that feed along the highway.

I wonder how much his unauthorized road building played into the decision.
At 4 or 5 grams a ton could he mine underground with a small imprint and impact?

Up 22 Down 7

ProScience Greenie on Jul 20, 2018 at 12:32 pm

Actually woodcutter there seems to be more about that bulldozer trail than was in the news. Worth asking around about the details.

YESAB does indeed do good work but there are red flags that need looking in to and fixing. Keeping any board, committee or branch of government clean is as important as keeping industry clean. Start at the top.

Up 22 Down 13

woodcutter on Jul 20, 2018 at 9:34 am

Word on the trail says this guy bulldozed a trail out of existence, and now he plays the victim. Boo Hoo.

I would say, any proposal made by this guy, should be viewed with a eye that he won't adhere to the plan. If you were in forestry business, your actions would disqualify you for holding a permit for a year, perhaps we should hold folks in this business to the same standard?

Up 21 Down 12

Martin on Jul 19, 2018 at 11:44 pm

Sad. YESAB is overly tilted on one side and seems that won't allow any new development outside the traditional mining areas. It will continue that way while their employees are only wearing two color stripes.

Up 22 Down 10

Max Mack on Jul 19, 2018 at 10:01 pm

@Pink'N'Da'Brain

YESAB has clearly been compromised.

Up 13 Down 16

Miles Klondike on Jul 19, 2018 at 7:56 pm

I have a lot of respect for the YESAB process.
It's a fair process which is grounded locally.

Well done YESAB!

Up 14 Down 23

Pink'N'Da'Brain on Jul 19, 2018 at 4:04 pm

Word out on the trail say perhaps ProScience Greenie isn't proscience at all. YESAB is robust, transparent and best in the show in regard to development assessment. Good for Yukon and good for Yukoners who live here. long live YESAB

Up 23 Down 14

ProScience Greenie on Jul 19, 2018 at 3:32 pm

Hopefully YESAB hasn't been compromised by politics with this and a few other decisions. Word out on the trail say perhaps so.

Add your comments or reply via Twitter @whitehorsestar

In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.

Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.