The governing Yukon Party, led by former pharmacist Darrell Pasloski, made political history on Oct. 11 by winning a third straight majority, clearing the way for the Yukon Territory to embark on what could be even greater history through exploitation of its resource riches.
Pasloski, who took over as head of the right-of-center party when long-time premier Dennis Fentie retired in May, will head a caucus of 11 members in the 19-member legislature.
The left-leaning New Democratic Party doubled its count to six members, while the Liberals fell to two from five.
Of the Yukon’s 23,500 eligible voters, 67 percent cast ballots, the lowest turnout since the territory adopted party politics in 1978.
The biggest challenge for the government is to handle a resurgent mining industry, with planned development poised to surpass anything in its Klondike past, that is stretching the need for skilled labor, housing and power supplies beyond the territory’s limits.
Vancouver-based Western Copper Corp., which aims to produce more than 400,000 ounces of gold and 200 million pounds of copper annually from its Casino mine, 230 miles northwest of Whitehorse, highlights the pressures.
Its open-pit mine would consume almost as much power as the Yukon Energy Corp., which owns all of the territory’s generation and transmission assets, is currently able to produce.
Western Copper has said it plans to truck liquid natural gas to the mine site, which bolsters interest in the June announcement that CNOOC International, a subsidiary of one of China’s energy giants, had invested in privately owned Northern Cross (Yukon), to assess the oil and natural gas potential of Eagle Plain in the northern Yukon.
Resource update under way
Meanwhile, the Geological Survey of Canada is midway through a four-year project to update the Yukon’s energy and mineral resources.
Past assessments have estimated Eagle Plain contains about 6 trillion cubic feet of gas and 436 million barrels of oil, while the Yukon portion of the Beaufort Sea is believed to hold 4 tcf of gas and 4.5 billion barrels of oil.
The Yukon government’s Energy, Mines and Resources Department is currently studying the economic feasibility of either converting any gas produced at Eagle Plain into liquefied natural gas for shipment by truck, or building pipelines to power generation plants or directly to mine sites.
Northern Cross said it needs to drill deeper than ever before on its 1.3 million acres of Yukon leases and discover about 500 billion cubic feet of gas to make development profitable.
Although not prepared to disclose the details of CNOOC’s investment, Northern Cross said the Chinese company’s equity stake is sufficient to help cover anticipated spending of C$18 million over the next six years. The current plan involves drilling four to six wells and announcing results within three years.
