Lydian Armenia to operate Amoulsar mine will purchase from Caterpillar company a large fleet from $ 65 million

ArmInfo. The company  of  Lydian Armenia, which is engaged in the exploitation of the gold mine  Amulsar, develops cooperation with the official dealer of the company  Caterpillar in Armenia - the company Zeppelin. "We are acquiring a  fleet specially designed for the operation of Amulsar, which is the  largest contract in the history of Caterpillar," Hayk Aloyan,  executive director of Lydian Armenia, told journalists on November  17. The total cost of the car fleet is estimated at $ 65 million.

According to Peter Nella, responsible for technical support of Lydian  Armenia, today the fleet consists of an excavator, a conveyor, and  loaders that can load cargo up to 180 tons and an area of 42 square  meters, crushers, auxiliary machines, etc.

At the same time, he noted that for the training of personnel in the  management of specialized equipment, the company acquired simulators  that completely simulated the conditions when driving such a  technique.  The driver training course will cost the company about $  20 thousand. Upon completion, drivers will receive a special license,  which is used in the mining industry around the world. At the same  time every six months for drivers is provided for retraining.

Taking into account the technical potential and progress of the  construction works A.Aloyan noted that the company will start  producing gold in the summer of 2018. According to him, the annual  production will amount to 210 thousand ounces of gold or in value  terms of about $ 250 million.  Negotiations are already under way on  the supply of gold-bearing ore mainly with European countries and the  United States, he said.

In addition, it is worth noting that during the period from January  to September of this year Lydian Armenia was included in the list of  the largest taxpayers of Armenia, having taken the 19th position with  the volume of paid taxes of 4 billion drams. "From next year,  depending on the value of gold, the company's annual tax revenue to  the state budget of Armenia will be around $ 40-50 million," he  concluded.

Recall that LydianArmenia is a subsidiary of the British Lydian  International, whose shareholders are large international  institutional investors from the United States, Britain, a number of  European countries, including IFC and EBRD. The Amulsar project is  the largest for today in Armenia industrial project for the  development of a gold ore deposit with a total value of $ 370  million. In August 2016 the project started.  Preliminary work has  been carried out since 2006. The life of the Amulsar deposit will be  10 years and 4 months, an annual average of 200,000 ounces of gold is  planned (about 10 million tons of ore). Within the framework of the  Amulsar program, 1,300 jobs will be created in the construction  process (construction works will last about 2 years) and 650-700 jobs  throughout the entire operation of the field. The company's shares  are quoted on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Amulsar deposit is the  second largest in Armenia.  It should be noted that Zeppelin Armenia  LLC (ZeppelinArmenia) is the official dealer of Caterpillar in  Armenia since 2005. Zeppelin Armenia is part of the German concern  Zeppelin GmbH, the world's largest Caterpillar dealer in Europe. The  central office of LLC Zeppelin Armenia is located in the city of  Abovyan.  There is also a central warehouse and a major repair  facility (CRC). Actively developing representative offices throughout  the country, the company's branches are open at large mining deposits  in Kajaran, Tekhut and Sotq.