Yukon’s Eagle gold mine to be sold for $140M

A Singapore-based mining company has agreed to buy the shut Eagle gold mine near Mayo, Yukon, for $140 million, more than two years after a heap leach failure spilled cyanide-laced ore at the site.

Boroo Pte. Ltd. signed the agreement with the mine’s court-appointed receiver, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the receiver and the Yukon government said at a news conference in Whitehorse on Thursday, Oct. 22. The deal still needs court approval, which officials hope to get by the end of the year, CBC News reported.

Under the agreement, Boroo would pay $40 million in cash up front and another $100 million later as the mine reaches permitting and production milestones. The Canadian Press and APTN News reported the company has also promised well over $1 billion in investment to restart the operation.

Economic Development Minister Jen Gehmair said that once the sale closes, Boroo will take over both operations and remediation at the site. “This means that Yukon taxpayers will no longer be funding this work through the receiver,” she said, adding that the territory will be fully repaid for the money it has spent on the emergency cleanup.

Gehmair said Boroo plans to spend about $800 million between 2027 and 2029 on cleanup, water treatment, site stabilization and restarting operations, work she said would create hundreds of jobs for Yukoners.

Mines Minister Ted Laking called the sale “the ideal outcome” for taxpayers and the environment. He said remediation would otherwise cost the territory about $72 million a year, before closure costs, and that the sale does not change any of the regulatory requirements Boroo must meet before the mine can reopen.

Michelle Grant of PricewaterhouseCoopers said permitting is expected to take about four years, so there is no firm date for a restart. The receiver said details of the agreement and a timeline will be made public in the coming weeks.

The mine sits on the traditional territory of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun. Boroo’s due diligence period was extended in July to allow it to negotiate key agreements with the Yukon government and the First Nation. CBC News said the First Nation had not responded to a request for comment on the sale.

The Eagle mine closed in June 2024 when part of its heap leach facility collapsed, sending about two million tonnes of cyanide-soaked ore into the environment. Its owner, Victoria Gold Corp., was placed into receivership, and the Yukon government agreed to lend the receiver up to $220 million for the cleanup. Earlier this year, the site began discharging treated water ahead of the spring melt.

For more news from Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, see our North coverage and our local news section.

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