ArmInfo. Lydian Armenia will pay 75-100 million dollars to the state treasury every year in the form of taxes, duties and royalties. Hayk Aloyan Managing Director of Lydian Armenia, which develops the Amulsar gold mine, said in an interview with the Public Television of Armenia.
Speaking about the economic impact of the renewable project, he also mentioned that during the construction phase, it will contribute to the opening of 1000 direct jobs, 5000 indirect jobs, and during operation, 950 jobs, of which 250 alone will be the employees of the contractor company. In addition, the project will have a multiplier impact in the context of the establishment of SMEs in the surrounding communities.
At the same time, he noted that the project will have a positive impact on Armenia, including from a reputational point of view. Aloyan noted that today the entire international market is following the Amulsar project in order to understand not only the situation in the mining market of Armenia, but also to assess the country's investment opportunities. In this vein, he noted that the project will contribute to the inflow of investors to Armenia.
According to him, the Amulsar project is planned for 11 years, but with the possibility of expansion up to 25 years. Annual production will be about 7 tons of dore, and in the context of 11 years, we can talk about 2.5 million ounces of gold equivalent. However, the total resources of the mine are estimated at 5 million ounces.
Yesterday, on February 22, the Government of the Republic of Armenia, Lydian Armenia CJSC and the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) signed a memorandum of understanding, which marked the restart of the program for the development of the Amulsar mine.
Within the framework of the memorandum, as Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said, $150 million will be invested, of which $100 million will be EDB loans, $50 million will be provided by a local bank, and an additional $100 million will be invested outside the agreement, Minister noted disclosing the source of funding. "The funds will be used to complete construction work at the mine and purchase the necessary equipment," he said. As the Minister said, as part of the memorandum, $150 million will be invested, of which $100 million will be EDB loans, $50 million will be provided by a local bank, and an additional $100 million will be invested outside the agreement, Minister noted disclosing the source of funding. "The funds will be used to complete construction work at the mine and purchase the necessary equipment," he said. It was noted that within the framework of the transaction, the RA government will receive 12.5% of the company's shares, for which it will not pay anything, instead it will secure the transaction from certain risks.
It should be noted that the memorandum of understanding was signed by Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, member of the Board of Directors of Lydian Armenia Geoffrey Coach, and Vice Chairman of the Management Board of the EDB Denis Ilin. 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, Minister of Economy of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan noted that if nothing interferes, the work of the Amulsar gold mine will be resumed, referring to the department's program of measures, which contains a provision on solving the Amulsar problem. Earlier, before the change of beneficiaries, Lydian Armenia was a subsidiary of the British offshore Lydian International, which placed shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Then the company went through the process of delisting. As a result of the restructuring, the full stake in the company was transferred to the newly established Lydian Canada Ventures, owned by the U.S. firm Orion Mine Finance, and the Canadian company Osisko Gold Royalties. The total cost of the Amulsar project is $370 million. The estimated period of operation of the mine is 10 years and 4 months, while it is planned to produce an average of 200 thousand ounces of gold annually.
The mine 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.
