Mining project will harm caribou, says Yukon board

Yukon assessors have sided with the territory's environment department, in deciding a proposedmining operation could harmcaribou and should be stopped.

The Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board(YESAB) has recommended the government reject aproposed placer minenear Judas Creek, south of Whitehorse, citing "significant adverse cumulative effects to the Carcross Caribou Herd."

• Yukon gov't departments disagree on controversial mining application

ProspectorNicolai Goeppel and his partner Alex Shaman planned to mine their 45 placer claims in the area, just north of Jake's Corner.

But Yukon's environment department toldYESABtheproject area issurrounded byhighquality habitat for caribou. The departmentsaidthe claims make up part of the Carcross herd's core winter range and are on its migration route.

"The scale of the proposed Project, which would involve a large area (45 claims) and up to 13 pieces of heavy machinery and a wash-plant operating, is a high magnitude auditory and visual disturbance when compared to its current state and habitat value," the YESABdecision states.

A recovery program for caribou in the Southern Lakes area has been in effect since 1992. In that time, their population grew from 400 caribou to roughly 800 in 2008, according to Environment Yukon.

Damage could be mitigated, says another gov't department

YESAB's recommendation is a clear rejection of arguments made by another government department, that favoured the project.The department of energy, mines and resourcesargued that any damage to caribou habitat from the minecould be repaired, and the project should go ahead.

YESAB didn't buy it.

That's a disappointment, according tothe Yukon Chamber of Mines, which also favoured the project.

"What concerns us is, something like thisas small as a placer operation a recommendation like this, [is] the potential impact it has on larger applications across all sectors of Yukon's economy," said Samson Hartland, the chamber's executive director.

YESAB's decisionis now before the Yukon government, which has the final say. It has 30 days to accept, reject or vary the recommendation.