ArmInfo.The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) treats the Amulsar project in Armenia very carefully and cautiously. Denis Ilyin, Deputy Chairman of the EDB Board, stated this on December 14 in Almaty, summing up the results of the Bank's year of activity.
Thus, when clarifying at what stage the issue of EDB participation in the project to develop the Amulsar gold mine is, Ilyin noted that this project to some extent causes conflicting feelings. "The project is extremely important for the country's economy. We treat it very carefully and cautiously. And in order to make a final decision, it is necessary not only to conduct examinations, but also a plan, first of all, for the economic support of this project in order to preserve the national park located there. To receive all the benefits that the government and residents of the country are counting on, but at the same time preserve as much as possible the existing unique ecological state of this region," he noted.
According to Ilyin, the parties are now at the stage of forming this environmental plan, and if it is agreed upon and adopted, then it will be possible to make a decision on final entry into the project. "The plan is being formed, we hope to complete it by the end of the year and present it," said the deputy chairman of the EDB board. He added that after the successful approval of the environmental plan, it will be presented to the Armenian public in order to show how all this will look and be implemented in practice before it all begins to be implemented. Therefore, the project is at the development stage," summarized Denis Ilyin.
On February 21, the Government of the Republic of Armenia, Lydian Armenia CJSC and the Eurasian Development Bank signed a memorandum of understanding, which marked the restart of the program for the exploitation of the Amulsar field. As part of the memorandum, it is planned to raise $250 million, of which $100 million will be loan funds from the EDB, $50 million will be secured by a local bank, and an additional $100 million will be invested outside the agreement by shareholders. As part of the deal, the Armenian government will receive 12.5% of the company's shares, for which it will not pay anything, but instead will insure the deal against certain risks.
Since the end of 2018, the Amulsar gold deposit has been blocked by environmental activists. The government was unable to decide on the resumption of construction of the mine and work on it had to be suspended. In March 2022, Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan noted that if nothing interferes, the work of the Amulsar gold deposit will be resumed, referring to the department's program of activities, which contains a provision on solving the Amulsar problem.
Previously, before the change of beneficiaries, Lydian Armenia was a subsidiary of the British offshore Lydian International and placed shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company then went through the delisting procedure. As a result of the restructuring, the full stake in the company passed to the newly created Canadian-American Lydian Canada Ventures, the beneficiaries of which are the American company Orion Mine Finance and the Canadian Osisko Gold Royalties. 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 reserves in Armenia.
According to the company, the deposit contains approximately 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 southeast of the country, 13 km from the resort town of Jermuk, between the Arpa and Vorotan rivers.
