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Armenian minister against development of Amulsar gold mine

10.07.2018, 17:43
Armenian Minister of Nature Protection Erik Grigoryan has endorsed today environmentalists and residents of several villages in Vayots Dzor province who are opposed strongly to development of Amulsar gold mine by Lydian Armenia Company.

Armenian minister against development of Amulsar gold mine
YEREVAN, July 10. /ARKA/. Armenian Minister of Nature Protection Erik Grigoryan has endorsed today environmentalists and residents of several villages in Vayots Dzor province who are opposed strongly to development of Amulsar gold mine by Lydian Armenia Company.

He said as minister he does not believe that the development of a gold mine t in such volumes is promising, 'because of its biodiversity and natural resources Armenia is one of the world's major global ecological zones." 

Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet session he said two of 25 main biodiversity zones in the world, are in Europe, located in the Mediterranean and the Caucasus.

He said  inspections at the Amulsar gold mine  are being carried out within the framework of the law and do not contain any legal or reputational risks for Armenia, as compliance with environmental licenses is  being checked.

He said if breaches of relevant laws are revealed, the Lydian Armenian company will be given 90 days to eliminate them, otherwise Armenia has the right to terminate its activity.

As for the tailing dumps, according to the minister, the EU preliminary agreed to provide a grant of 5 million euros to solve the problem, inherited from the Soviet time.

Lydian Armenia is a subsidiary of Lydian International. It was founded in 2005. The list of its institutional shareholders includes the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation.

The Amulsar gold deposit is the second largest gold deposit in Armenia, containing about 31 million tons of ore and 40 tons of pure gold. It is located in the southeast of the country, 13 km from the resort town of Jermuk, between the rivers Arpa and Vorotan. -0-