PricewaterhouseCoopers, acting as receiver of the defunct Victoria Gold Eagle Gold Mine, has sued Vancouver-based JDS Energy and Mining Inc. in B.C. Supreme Court, alleging the engineering firm’s negligence and breach of contract caused one of the worst mining environmental disasters in Yukon history.
A heap leach pad failure in June 2024 sent roughly two million tonnes of cyanide-soaked ore into the surrounding environment, contaminating fish-bearing waterways near Mayo, Yukon. The Yukon government has since agreed to loan the receiver as much as $220 million to fund remediation work, and a spokesperson for the territory said any damages recovered through the suit could help repay that loan, reducing the cost to taxpayers.
Filed June 19, the civil claim targets a relationship between JDS and then-mine-owner Victoria Gold Corp. that stretched more than a decade, encompassing feasibility studies, consultation work, and construction management tied to the ore storage facility. PwC alleges the firm committed a series of critical errors in carrying out those responsibilities.
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Among the specific allegations. JDS recommended against cement agglomeration, a process that binds ore particles together while allowing water to drain freely through the heap. The claim also contends the firm purchased a substandard geomembrane liner designed to prevent ground contamination and failed to follow construction plans drawn up by a separate company.
A third line of attack concerns frozen ore. Earlier feasibility studies had called for limiting ore stacking to 250 days a year, confined to warmer months, to keep frozen pockets from building up inside the heap. According to the lawsuit, JDS endorsed year-round stacking in a 2022 technical report, adding to the instability that preceded the collapse.
An independent expert panel commissioned by the Yukon government later determined that poor drainage in one ore layer caused the material above it to liquefy, triggering a landslide.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for lost mining operations, property damage, and legal and cleanup costs, but names no specific dollar figure. JDS has not filed a legal response, and the allegations remain untested before a judge.
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