ArmInfo. The Amulsar mine will be operational this year. Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan stated during a press conference on Monday.
He emphasized that about 1,000 new jobs will be opened in the Vayots Dzor region with the launch of the mine. "The construction work will be completed and the mine will start operating," the head of the department said.
At the same time, Kerobyan noted that new jobs will also be provided by a number of other large investment projects that will be implemented. In this regard, he singled out the construction of the World Trade Center in Yerevan (WORLD TRADE CENTER - WTC), a ski resort of the Myler Mountain Resort company in the Aragatsotn region, etc.
On February 21, 2023, 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, $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. Within the framework of the transaction, the Armenian government will receive 12.5% of the company's shares, in exchange for which it will insure the transaction against certain risks.
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 field is the second largest in Armenia. According to the company, the minecontains 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.
At its meeting on September 7 last year, the Armenian government approved the World Trade Center construction program. The justification states that <RENSHIN> LLC in the building located at Yerevan, st. Saryan 22, will implement the urban investment program "World Trade Center Yerevan" (WORLD TRADE CENTER YEREVAN).
According to the source, at the initial stage of the project the company plans to invest about $211 million 554 thousand. At least 10 thousand jobs will be opened directly. On July 29, 2021, the government approved an investment project of the Myler Mountain Resort company with a total volume of 30 billion drams, which will be used for the construction of a new ski resort in the Aragatsotn region of Armenia.
The ski complex is planned to be built near Aparan, on an area of approximately 2080 hectares, at an altitude of approximately two thousand meters. As part of the program, it is also planned to build places for entertainment and leisure. According to the business plan, the company intends to serve 500 thousand tourists annually.
