New owners to take over Wolverine Mine, says Yukon gov't

Ownership at the Wolverine Mine is about to switch hands according to the Yukon government.

The mine, located southeast of Ross River, Yukon, has been in temporary closure since January 2015.

Minister of Energy, Mines, and Resources Ranj Pillai told the legislature last Thursday the new ownership group is in discussions with the Yukon Water Board.

• FROM 2018 |Australian company eyes purchase of Yukon's Wolverine mine

"As of today we do have a new, it looks like its a new owner, that wants to restart and open the mine," he said. "There was a negotiation that was ongoing over the last number of weeks that is now subsided with that particular group. We did support the process."

CBCNews contacted the current owners of the mine, Yukon Zinc, to ask about the sale.

Company spokesperson Alex Wu would not comment but said in a email he would respond "when I have any company update."

Wolverine Mine is a zinc, silver, copper, lead and gold mine. It began operatingin 2011, and continued until its closure in 2015.

Yukon Zinc said it was shutting down the mine in 2015 due to low metal prices.

That resulted in over 200 people getting laid off.

The mine later went through bankruptcy protection.

Under it's quartz licence, the mine is under temporary closure and under its water license it is under permanent closure.

Water issues

The Yukon government says it will take some work to get the mineup and running again.

Bob Holmes, thedirector of mineral resources with the Yukon government,said he hopes the new company will be able to deal with the site conditions and get the mine restarted.

But that will take time because the new owners will have to be fully compliant with territorial rules.

• FROM 2015|Wolverine mine flooding, Yukon Zinc not complying with agreements
• FROM 2015 |Yukon Zinc owes $3M in security payments for Wolverine Mine

"The mine is fully flooded and there is water coming out of the portal. And the water right now is being diverted over to the water storage pond. It's a big water storage facility on site," Holmes explained.

He said the water level in the tailing pond also needs to be reduced and treated.

Holmes said Yukon Zinc also still owes a $25-million security deposit for the mine.

The company did post $10.5 million.

Holmes said some of that money will be used to buy a water treatment plant for the site.