Water licence issued to former BYG mine head

The Yukon Water Board has issued a licence to a company led by the former president ofBYG Resources'failed Mount Nansen mine near Carmacks.

The open-pit gold and silver mine was abandoned in 1999 after its owners, BYG Resources, went into receivership. It was shut down after the company failed to meet government orders to clean up the mine, which left behind a tailings pond leaking cyanide and other toxins into the Yukon River.

At the time, then-president Graham Dickson failed to pay a $200,000 environmental cleanup bond, which left the government having to foot the bill for maintenance and pollution abatement work.

Dickson is now president of Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp., which wants to reopen the abandoned Ketza River gold mine near Ross River.It announced on Wednesday thatthe project received a water licence signed by Premier Dennis Fentie and water board chairman Bruce Willis.

A water licence permits companies to use water on a project, such as a mine, and governs how thatwater is to be used and disposed of on the site.

As it turns out, one of Dickson's current employees is Tony Polyck, a former Yukon government mine inspector who was instrumental in shutting down the BYG mine. Polyck is now an environmental regulator for Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp.

"As a former regulator, I can understand the problems the industry has. And I have, of course, now my own unique perspective on it," Polyck said Wednesday.

Polyck said Yukoners should not worry about the Ketza mine creating environmental problems, despite Dickson's history and BYG's past environmental record. His new boss is committed to doing things right this time, he said.

"He's basically given me carte blanche to do whatever needs to be done as far as environmental protection," he said.

"I told Graham when we first started 'no compromises,' we'll do whatever is necessary. And he said, 'You go for it,' and I have."

In granting Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. the licence, the water board did say the company will have to put up a $3-million bond tocover any environmental problems.

Mining watchdogs in the territory applauded the licence and accompanying bond. Gerry Couture, a mining issues co-ordinator with the Yukon Conservation Society, said the licence could have been a little stricter but it still ensures the Ketza property is cleaned up.

"The important thing is, whether they mine it or not, there has to be a final reclamation and closure plan. And that means a plan that is for short-term closure and then a plan that is for long-term closure," Couture said Thursday.

"That's the way they are developed under the regulations. And there has to be money to carry out that plan. That's the good news."