Wednesday, July 8 2020 13:39

ArmInfo. In Armenia, the  investor will not receive permits for the development of deposits in  the absence of research on the reserves of the mine. The country's  parliament at an extraordinary meeting on July 8 in the first reading  discusses amendments to the law "On bowels "and in a package of  related laws.

As the Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and  Infrastructures of the Republic of Armenia Liliya Shushanyan noted in  her speech, the package is aimed at institutional transformations in  the sphere of subsoil use. It is envisaged, in particular, to  prohibit the fragmentation of fields.

There were cases, the deputy minister emphasized, when the field was  divided in order to use more efficient areas, while leaving the  inefficient ones out of the attention. Now the entire field will be  considered in a single balance. Permits for use will be granted in  the presence of proven volumes of minerals (term - 5 years for metal  deposits, and 10 years - for non-metal). This, according to Lilia  Shushanyan, is done so that the investor, before starting the  development of the mine, conducts research to determine the reserves,  the volumes of which remained at the level of Soviet times. The  maximum period of use of deposits from 50 years is reduced to 25  years, for metal - up to 15 years. When obtaining permits to extend  the life of a mine, at least 70% of its development is required.

It should be noted that on the state balance of mineral reserves at  present more than 670 deposits of solid minerals with confirmed  reserves, including 30 metal, are registered. Of these deposits,  about 400 are exploited, including 22 metal. There are 7  copper-molybdenum deposits, 4 copper, 14 gold and gold - polymetallic  deposits, 2 iron ore and 1 aluminum ore in metallic minerals. In the  ore of deposits registered in the State Balance, in addition to basic  metals, rare elements and their placer have been identified:   rhenium, selenium, telur, cadmium, indium, helium, thallium, bismuth  and others.

Currently, for the mining and metallurgical complex of Armenia, the  final products are mainly concentrates (copper, molybdenum, zinc, in  some cases with a high content of gold and silver, and in the near  future also lead concentrate), which does not allow to fully use the  economic potential of the deposits . The organization of the  processing of metal minerals mined in Armenia in a closed and final  cycle - from extraction to the creation of finished products - will  make it possible to obtain products with high cost, which can ensure  significant GDP growth. There are 15 tailing dumps in the territory  of Armenia where wastes accumulated during the exploitation of  mineral deposits are accumulated, the volume of which exceeds several  million cubic meters and which occupy a total area of about 700  hectares. Currently, industrial waste accumulated in tailing dumps  generated as a result of industrial mining and mineral processing is  not used, although they also contain a significant amount of  polymetals.

The Republic of Armenia also occupies one of the leading places in  the world in the wealth and diversity of non-metallic ore reserves.  In a small territory of Armenia, almost all world-famous ore minerals  are found.  Of particular value and importance are mountain minerals  that have arisen in Armenia as a result of volcanic processes,  including light rocks: tuffs, perlites, pumice stones, zeolites,  volcanic slags, etc. The huge reserves of various types of basalt,  granite, nepheline syenite, marble are enormous. The reserves of the  highest quality and most expanded rocks (perlite, obsidian and  others) in the world are in Armenia. The confirmed reserves of  Aragats-perlite available in Armenia amount to 150 million m3, and  the total amount of its projected reserves is up to 3 billion m3.  Over 100 basalt and andesite deposits are mapped throughout Armenia,  several of which are unique in composition (MgO content in basalt  from Khalaji reaches up to 11%). The deposits of quartzite,  carbonate, zeolite, volcanic slag, pumice, clay, bentonite,  diatomite, gypsum with significant reserves operating in Armenia are  of invaluable value and quality.