(Whitehorse) The Yukon government announced the discovery of mercury levels “exceeding the water quality objective” in a stream near the site where a mine’s ore containment facility collapsed, causing a torrent of cyanide-contaminated rocks to flow in June.
A government statement says high levels of cyanide and dissolved metals continue to be detected in groundwater at testing sites closest to the Eagle Gold mine landslide where millions of tonnes of ore were spilled .
Friday’s statement clarified that authorities are not seeing dangerous levels of cyanide in the downstream environment, but that on September 24 and 26, “the mercury level exceeded the water quality objective at one station surveillance” to the south of the site.
The statement said the government is gathering more information to understand the data and its impacts on the environment 480 kilometers north of Whitehorse.
Questions regarding mercury were directed to the Environment Ministry, which said it would provide answers to these questions early next week.
The mine’s owner, Victoria Gold, is in receivership and the Yukon government announced in August that an independent investigation into the causes of the incident was underway.