Wednesday, February 22 2023 13:21

ArmInfo. The Amulsar gold mine will be re-operated, Armenia's Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan stated at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Economic  Affairs, Parliament of Armenia. 

Armenia's Ministry of Economy will sign a $250mln package with the  Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) marking the completion of the Amulsar  construction project and re-operation of the gold mine. 

Mr Kerobyan also reported work to resume the operation of the Teghut  mine, which stopped operating because of sanctions against the owner. 

According to the Ministry of Economy, the EDB, the Lydian Armenia  CJSC and Armenia's Government are to sign a memorandum of  understanding on February 22, with Minister Vahan Kerobyan to sign  the document on behalf of Armenia's government. 

Since the end of 2018, the Amulsar gold mine has been blocked by  environmental activists. Construction work on it had to be suspended.

In March 2022, the Minister of Economy of Armenia Vagan Kerobyan  noted that if nothing interferes, the work of the Amulsar gold mine  will be resumed, referring to the department's program of events,  which contains a provision on solving the Amulsar problem.

Previously, before the change of the beneficiary, whose name is not  yet known, Lydian Armenia was a subsidiary of the British offshore  Lydian International. The total cost of the Amulsar project is $370  million. The life of the deposit is 10 years and 4 months, while it  is planned to produce an average of 200 thousand ounces of gold  annually.

The field is the second largest in Armenia. According to the company,  the deposit contains about 73,733 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 resort town of Jermuk, in the interfluve of  the Arpa and Vorotan rivers.

According to the RA Statistical Committee, in the mining industry and  the development of open pits in Armenia in 2022. compared to 2021 a  decline of 3.2% was recorded (against a decline of 0.8% a year  earlier), with a volume of 517.4 billion drams.