{"id":906203,"date":"2026-09-23T05:14:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T05:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/906203\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T05:14:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T05:14:18","slug":"clean-up-almost-done-at-abandoned-mine-site-on-first-nation-settlement-land-in-yukon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/906203\/","title":{"rendered":"Clean-up almost done at abandoned mine site on First Nation settlement land in Yukon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

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Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Crews remediating an abandoned placer mine site, near Carmacks, Yukon, are almost done. They\u2019re working for the territorial government, which is responsible for cleaning up the site \u2014 at a cost of $750,000.<\/p>\n

The site, known as the Discovery Creek Mine, is on Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation land. It was discovered in 2022 by land guardians with the First Nation.<\/p>\n

Documents from the Yukon Environment and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) show the mine was permitted in 2021.<\/p>\n

Ryan Hennessey, with the abandoned mines branch of Energy, Mines and Resources, said this mine is a unique situation.<\/p>\n

He said the mine was active until the owner died in 2021.<\/p>\n

However, when it was found abandoned, it looked like it hadn’t been worked for a while, according to Ed Schultz, director of lands and resources with the First Nation. <\/p>\n

\"AnThe Discovery Creek Mine, shown here while remediation work was underway, was a placer mine west of Carmacks. The mine was abandoned after its owner died in 2021. (Yukon Department of Energy, Mines and Resources)<\/p>\n

Schultz said more than 19,000 litres of diesel fuel had seeped into the ground throughout the site, and the contamination was visible.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could smell the odour quite strongly of hydrocarbons,\u201d Schultz said.<\/p>\n

He said it was of serious concern given Discovery Creek runs through the mine site and feeds into the network of waterways in the Mount Nansen area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Schultz says the area is already heavily impacted by a significant number of placer mining operations. It lies in the shadow of the Mount Nansen mine site \u2014 a quartz mine abandoned in 1999, which has been undergoing remediation ever since.<\/p>\n

The territory hired KBL Environmental to handle cleanup at the Discovery Creek site. Workers removed about 300 cubic metres of contaminated soil, in addition to removing equipment, machinery, vehicles and trailers from the site.<\/p>\n

Some of those assets were given to the First Nation. Schultz said they would be put up for auction to help cover the costs of work the nation has done at the site in recent years.<\/p>\n

Hennessey said the spill did not get into the creek, and all contaminated soil was removed.<\/p>\n

Work is expected to finish by the end of September, Hennessey said, so no work will be needed next year. Once the clean-up is complete, the only remaining tasks will be inspection and finalizing the closure certificate.<\/p>\n

\"ThisThe site of the Discovery Creek placer mine after the clean-up in 2026. (Yukon Department of Energy, Mines and Resources)Concerns over timing<\/p>\n

Schultz said the First Nation is satisfied with the result, but it should have happened more quickly. He noted the four year gap between the discovery of the mine site and contamination, and the start of remediation work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s just not very appropriate that it took that many years to deal with something that we actually knew was dripping on the ground,\u201d Schultz said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said he wants to see a formalized arrangement with a plan to immediately respond to contamination found in the territory, and a contingency fund, as he understands funding for the remediation played a role in the delay.<\/p>\n

Abandoned sites like these can be found throughout the North, and Schultz said they will have to be considered as the territory works on drafting new minerals legislation.<\/p>\n

Hennessey said plans were underway to remediate another site, the Empire Creek claim, located on Na-Cho Nyak Dun settlement land, located 20 kilometres south of Mayo, Yukon. Discussions are underway with the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun on their expectations for the clean up.<\/p>\n

Schultz says small, abandoned sites like these are an ongoing problem. However, he says it\u2019s also an example of how the Yukon government and First Nations governments can work together to benefit all Yukoners, and the land itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe monitor our entire traditional territory and our people usually see things long before they do,\u201d Schultz said of the nation\u2019s land guardians.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFormalizing a relationship in the long haul is probably the best thing to do to anticipate quicker action in circumstances like this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":906204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-906203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}