LA RONGE, Sask. -- Claude Resources has been ordered to pay a penalty of $172,000 for a fuel spill almost two years ago at its Seabee gold mine in northern Saskatchewan.

The mining company recently pleaded guilty to one charge under the federal Fisheries Act and one charge under Saskatchewan's environmental legislation.

The charges were laid after 24,000 litres of diesel fuel leaked from a storage tank at the mine, which is 125 kilometres northeast of La Ronge.

An investigation found that the tank, which was 35 metres from the north shore of Laonil Lake, had not been serviced by a certified installer.

The fuel spilled when a connection point failed.

Enforcement officials concluded that the spill was preventable and Claude Resources was charged.

The spill affected an area along the bank and shoreline, and had to be contained within a boom on the lake.

"It is very important that owners and operators of fuel storage tanks in our province abide by the regulations under the Environmental Management and Protection Act," Ken Aube of Saskatchewan's Environment Ministry said in a release Friday.