Letter: Casino project definitely should not be approved
Published 6:30 am Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Malcolm Boothroyd’s recent opinion article (Jan 14) provided useful historical perspective, though it might have also mentioned the ongoing problems created by Mount Nansen Mines, in the same Dawson Range as the Casino project.
YESAB is surely aware that the cyanide leaching process requires considerably greater amounts of cyanide when the ore contains copper as well as gold (the kind of ore to be mined by Casino), versus ore having gold but little or no copper. Yukon if it is to claim that it is governing responsibly on behalf of its citizens has an obligation to be well informed about such technological matters and, imho, to err on the side of long-term safety and full environmental remediation. Yukon government will lose credibility if the Casino project’s proposal to use cyanide leaching is approved hastily, without examining all of the many alternative gold-copper leaching processes, several of which are considerably more friendly than cyanide in relation to ecosystem sustainability.
This same expectation applies to all environmental aspects of the Casino project. YESAB should be asking questions of both the Casino Mining Corporation and experts, questions like ‘Is what Casino proposing the only way? For each component from start to finish, is there a more safe process?’ Undoubtedly, the answers to such questions will acknowledge that there are alternatives but, in order for the mine to be economically sustainable the proposed methods were selected.
I am not opposed to the ore production aims in principle. The minerals to be had are useful for countless purposes, but if profit and government royalties are once again the primary arguments used to justify risking good environmental stewardship, the Casino project definitely should not be approved. While in the ground the gold and copper are not going to disappear; they will be there until a time when all concerns can be well satisfied.
Rodney Savidge
Fredericton, NB
