ArmInfo. I urge the citizens of Armenia to open the road leading to the Amulsar mine. This was announced on January 25 at a press conference by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.
He noted that Armenia may face a legal problem in this matter, since in this situation the Lydian Armenia company may appeal to the arbitration court. "I consider the actions of our citizens in this situation illogical, because it is because of their actions that the situation has reached an impasse. This issue will not be resolved until the road to Amulsar is closed," Pashinyan emphasized.
The Prime Minister expressed his point of view in connection with this issue. "Do you think I'm interested in the Amulsar mine to start operating? Yes and no. I'm interested in the mine's operate, since if it operated, the country would record even higher economic growth, much higher of what we have today, numerous jobs would also be involved, but on the other hand, I don't want the mine to be exploited to the detriment of the residents of Jermuk and cause irreparable damage to the ecology of Armenia. I will not allow the mine to act during harm to our inhabitants, because now the road to the mine is closed, we can't understand whether its operation will lead to irreversible consequences or not, "he said.
However, he noted that since the company is delisting on the stock exchange (Toronto), that is, people who want to buy up (at a cheap price - Ed.) shares of the company in the hope of using them for certain purposes. The prime minister called this unacceptable and noted that the state will take the most severe measures against these actions.
Lydian Armenia is a subsidiary of the British offshore Lydian International. The total cost of the Amulsar project is $ 370 million. The mine's life is 10 years and 4 months, with an average of 200 thousand ounces of gold being mined annually. Amulsar mine is the second largest reserves in Armenia. According to the company, the deposit contains about 73733 kg of gold with an average grade of 0.78 g per ton, as well as 294.367 tons of silver with an average grade of 9.29 g per ton. It is located in the south-east of the country, 13 km from the spa town of Jermuk, between the rivers Arpa and Vorotan.
It should be noted that despite the assurances of the Lydian company that about $ 300 million has already been invested in the development project of the Amulsar gold mine, environmentalists do not share the government's enthusiasm about the attractiveness of the mine exploitation plan. Environmentalists fear that the exploitation of the mine, during which sodium cyanide will be used, may lead to the oxidation of water in rivers. Contaminated waters will become unsuitable for drinking and irrigation and may cause irreparable harm to the mineral springs of Jermuk and the ecosystem of Sevan. Since the end of 2018, the road to the field has been closeed by environmental activists. The company recently announced that it is launching a delisting process for its shares listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
