For sale: contaminated Yukon gold mine, feds to pay cleanup

The Yukon Supreme Court has approved a plan to clean up one of Yukon's abandoned mine sites, the contaminatedMount Nansenmine, 60 kilometres west of Carmacks.

The plan calls for the federal government to pay for the cleanup, but the mine site's court-appointed receiver, PricewaterhouseCoopersInc., must first findqualified bidderswho mightagree to purchase the property and do the job.

As he approved the plan in Yukon Supreme Court onFriday, Chief Justice Ron Veale wondered aloud"how this was allowed to happen and why it's taken almost 20 years to fix it."

The Mount Nansenmine was abandoned in 1999 after the owner, Toronto firmBYG Natural Resources, was charged withnumerous environmental violations.

Justice Veale was told it hascost taxpayers at least $25 millionsince then tomonitorthe site.

Owner will have 10 years to clean site

Now, after years of negotiation,the Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, the Yukon Government and the federal governmenthave endorsed aplan to sell the property to a qualified clean-up contractor.

The purchaser will be required to prepare a detailed design for the remediation plan, subject to peer review, and YESAA(Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Act) approval.

Required tasks includede-watering the Mount Nansenpit in preparation to accept 354,000 cubic metres of waste rockand more than 300,000 cubic metres of tailings and contaminated soil, then sealing the pit with a permanent liner.

The plan calls for a clean up "as close to walk away as possible," with nothing left on site that is not required for long term monitoring and maintenance.

Thewinning proponent will have up to 10years to complete the tasks required, and could then acquirepermitsto mine any viable mineral deposits on the property.

Court was told experts who developed the plan have an idea what it might costbut won't speculate publicly, saying they don't want to prejudice the bidding process.

Justice Vealemused from the bench about the "lessons learned" from the process, and suggested an explanation is warranted forthe time and expense involved.

The Mount Nansenmine is one of fourabandoned Yukon sites under federal government responsibility.