Wednesday, February 18, 2026
BQE Water Inc has signed a contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. (PwC) to operate water treatment at the Eagle Gold Mine owned by Victoria Gold Corp. in the first half of 2026.
The scope of services at the mine located in the Yukon matches work done in 2025, including managing the volume of contaminated water on site during and immediately following the 2026 spring freshet using the treatment system installed in 2024 and operated in 2025, a BQE Water release said.
BQE will work in partnership with Na-Cho Nyäk Dun Development Corporation (NNDDC) and Big River Operations (BRO), a First Nation-owned business operating on the Traditional Territory of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (FNNND).
“The 2024 heap leach failure directly impacted our land, waters and community. It is important that FNNND citizen-owned businesses play a meaningful role in restoring and protecting water quality on our Traditional Territory. BRO remains committed to advancing mine water treatment expertise and long-term environmental stewardship within our Nation. We value our collaboration with BQE Water and look forward to contributing to a successful 2026 treatment season,” Big River Operations owner Franklin Patterson said.
A landslide in June 2024 at the Eagle Mine site involving the failure of its cyanide heap leach facility resulted in 300,000 cubic meters of cyanide-contaminated water into the ecosystem.
BQE Water developed a treatment process along with technical advisers to the Yukon government, the FNNND, Victoria Gold and past Victoria Gold employees to drain the heap and “reduce the inventory of contaminated water to safe levels before freeze-up,” the release said.
BQE Water was selected in Nov. 2025 o complete the first phase of engineering for a new long-term water treatment system at Eagle Mine that would allow ongoing efficient management of water on site while meeting regulatory requirements, the release added, with BQE Water expected to deliver the design in Q1 of 2026.
“The successful restart and operations of the treatment system that BQE winterized at the end of 2025 is only an intermediate step, but an important one, to enable the site to transition to a long-term solution in an orderly fashion. Importantly, it will allow BQE to advance the training of BRO personnel and deepen the collaboration between BQE, BRO, and NNDDC aimed at building the expertise and capacity within the FNNND to manage and treat water from Eagle and other mining projects on the FNNND’s territory,” BQE Water president and CEO David Kratochvil said.
