The Yukon Supreme Court has authorized an initial transaction that would allow the Selkirk First Nation (SFN) to assume control of the abandoned Minto copper-gold mine and its assets, which includes a mill, a water treatment building and some equipment. The price of the offer has been sealed by the court. 

The court also granted exclusivity for SFN to negotiate intangible assets such as mineral claims, licences and permits for the second transaction.  

The Minto mine, previously owned by Minto Metals Corp., is located 250 kilometres north of Whitehorse, within SFN’s traditional territory. After Minto Metals abruptly abandoned the mine on May 12, 2023, due to financial issues, the Yukon government swiftly took over the site to conduct remediation, a process that is expected to last up to three years. The mine was placed into receivership on June 29, 2023, with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) appointed as the manager. 

“The Government of Yukon is pleased to see negotiations with Selkirk First Nation move forward to support the purchase of Minto mine assets,” said Laura Seeley, communications advisor for the Yukon government, in a statement emailed to CIM Magazine.  

Future plans 

Sharon Nelson, chief of SFN, told CBC News that the First Nation has “always pushed for the environmental integrity of the Minto mine site, but we will now be positioned for more command and control of the site, which opens up many possibilities in the future for Selkirk people, including the potential of exploration and reopening [the mine].”  

Selkirk’s offer includes a plan to complete drilling and exploration within the year to assess the potential of restarting the mine. The offer also mentions that the First Nation intends to address the security payment required for restarting the mine, as well as assuring that it will not interfere with the Yukon government’s ongoing reclamation of the mine.  

SFN and the Yukon government have until the end of September to negotiate the second transaction needed to finalize the deal, with the option to request an extension. 

“The Yukon government will continue to prioritize opportunities for the involvement of Yukon First Nations in economic opportunities associated with mining activities,” Seeley wrote. “This court decision offers significant opportunities for Selkirk First Nation, and we look forward to the benefits that this could bring to the First Nation, the region and the broader territory.” 

If SFN’s offer goes through, it “would be the first Indigenous-owned mine to my knowledge,” said Heather Exner-Pirot, the director of natural resources, energy and environment at Macdonald-Laurier Institute, on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. 

Reclamation efforts 

The Minto mine, which operated from 2007 to 2023, began underground mining in 2014. Since 2007, around 500 million pounds of copper was produced from the mine.  

In a May 9 statement released by the Yukon government, John Streicker, minister of energy, mines and resources, said that the government had allocated $21.5 million to support ongoing reclamation work at the site, with the funding coming from the financial security collected from Minto Metals prior to the site closure. 

According to the statement, the Yukon government continues to manage water treatment at the Minto site, and it said that water storage capacity has more than doubled over the last year.  

“Last month, reclamation and closure efforts at the Minto mine site reached a milestone, surpassing the target of having one million cubic metres of water storage capacity available at the site,” Streicker said in the statement. “Adequate water storage capacity allows us to be able to respond safely to unforeseen weather events and ensure ongoing environmental protection.”