Minister denies environmentalists’ concerns about Teghut deposit
07.02.2018,
19:00
Armenia’s Minister of Nature Protection Artsvik Minasyan denied today media reports claiming that the tailing dump of the Teghut copper deposit in northern Armenia was damaged and all the waste was flowing into the nearby rivers Debed and Shnokh, whose waters are used for irrigation.
YEREVAN, February 7. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Minister of Nature Protection Artsvik Minasyan denied today media reports claiming that the tailing dump of the Teghut copper deposit in northern Armenia was damaged and all the waste was flowing into the nearby rivers Debed and Shnokh, whose waters are used for irrigation.
Environmentalists, quoted by media, argued also that the concentration of heavy metals is high in the soil of this region, which can lead to an ecological catastrophe.
"We took samples of the tailing and conducted studies, which showed no pollution that exceeded any permitted level," Minasyan said.
Earlier this week The Vallex group of companies developing the Teghut copper and molybdenum deposit in the northern province of Lori, announced plans to lay off more than one thousand workers.
According to a statement provided to the media, the Liechtenstein-registered company’s decision is prompted by the need for further research in order to significantly increase the output. Vallex said it will refrain from operating the mine in current volumes until it receives grounded proposals from experts and decides on their implementation.
Vallex said also that almost all the workers set to be laid off will receive notices about the impending termination of their contracts. It added that some of these workers will be provided with jobs at other enterprises it owns. The company says it has invested more than $700 million in Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) over the past 20 years, including $400 million in the Teghut deposit. -0-
Environmentalists, quoted by media, argued also that the concentration of heavy metals is high in the soil of this region, which can lead to an ecological catastrophe.
"We took samples of the tailing and conducted studies, which showed no pollution that exceeded any permitted level," Minasyan said.
Earlier this week The Vallex group of companies developing the Teghut copper and molybdenum deposit in the northern province of Lori, announced plans to lay off more than one thousand workers.
According to a statement provided to the media, the Liechtenstein-registered company’s decision is prompted by the need for further research in order to significantly increase the output. Vallex said it will refrain from operating the mine in current volumes until it receives grounded proposals from experts and decides on their implementation.
Vallex said also that almost all the workers set to be laid off will receive notices about the impending termination of their contracts. It added that some of these workers will be provided with jobs at other enterprises it owns. The company says it has invested more than $700 million in Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) over the past 20 years, including $400 million in the Teghut deposit. -0-
