More than $43.3M in miner's liens registered against Victoria Gold since heap leach failure

More than $43.3 million-worth of miner's liens have been registered against Victoria Gold since the heap leach failure at its Eagle mine in central Yukon, suggesting the company's unpaid bills are quickly adding up.

A miner's lien is a legal tool available to contractors who haven't been paid for work or supplies provided at a mine site. It essentially holds the physical value of the mine against the debt, and can give lien holders priority over some other creditors.

A dozen of those liens have been registered against Victoria Gold at the Mayo Mining Recorder's Office between June 24 the day the heap leach failed, shutting down regular operations and July 31.

CBC News has not yetseen the individual liens, but, according to the office, the total claimed value adds up to $43,357,383.18.

The filing of a lien to a mining recorder's office does not guarantee payment, and contractors must also file a petition to the Yukon Supreme Court within 60 days to have the lien approved by a judge.

Whitehorse-based Ajax Steel Limited is the only contractor to have filed a petition to date. The company, in its legal filings, claims Victoria Gold owes it nearly $56,000 and told Ajax Steel on July 4 that all accounts payable were on hold.

Reached by phone Thursday, Ajax Steel's general manager declined to comment on the situation.

The petition has yet to be heard in court.

In an email, Yukon government cabinet communications spokesperson Jordan Owens said the Yukon Energy Corporation had filed a lien as well.

"We're concerned any time a Yukon business isn't paid the money that it is owed," she wrote."That's why we have legislation in place to allow contractors and subcontractors to file liens against a mining company to secure the payment of an outstanding debt."

Victoria Gold CEO and president John McConnell told CBC News in an interview earlier this week that the company was trying to keep the number of unpaid contractors "to a minimum."

"The best way to ensure all of those people are completely made whole is to work with the First Nation and the Yukon government to put the mine back in production," he said.

McConnell also said the company's finances were "fine" for the next four to six months, though "at a certain point we'll have to do a financing."

Victoria Gold's financial documents for the first quarter of 2024 show that it heldless than $28.5 million in cash and cash equivalents. At the same time, it held just more than$232.5 millionin total debt, approximately $40 millionof which was due to be paid by the end of next March.