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Amulsar mine to produce first gold in 2024, says director of Lydian Armenia

28.06.2023, 11:51
Lydian Armenia, a company developing the Amulsar gold mine in Armenia's Vayots Dzor region, will produce first gold in 2024, the executive director of the company  Hayk Aloyan said.  
Amulsar mine to produce first gold in 2024, says director of Lydian Armenia

YEREVAN, June 28. /ARKA/. Lydian Armenia, a company developing the Amulsar gold mine in Armenia's Vayots Dzor region, will produce first gold in 2024, the executive director of the company Hayk Aloyan said.  

"At the moment engineering work is underway. We signed a contract with Allied Gold company, which will perform construction work on the mine and handle its further operation. It is an Australia-based international company that annually mines about 500 thousand ounces of gold," Aloyan told a meeting of representatives of Armenia's mining industry, as reported by the Public Television.

He said Lydian Armenia's management is counting on partner relations with the Armenian government (which owns 12.5% of the company).

"The Amulsar gold mine is not a short-term project. Its development may take as many as 40 years. For this reason it is very important to form institutional relations with the government," Aloyan stressed.

Aloyan said earlier that the operation of the mine would trigger the attention of international investors to Armenia.

According to some estimates, the Lydian Armenia is expected to pay between 30 and 40 billion drams ($75-$100 million) in various taxes each year, create hundreds of jobs - 1000 during the construction and 950 during the mine's operation.

According to Aloyan, the company plans to produce 7 tons of gold per year. Aloyan also assured that the company has always been attentive to environmental issues and will continue monitoring to meet international safety standards.

Amulsar gold mine is Armenia's second–largest gold mine in terms of pure gold reserves. It is located in the southeast of the country, 13 km from Jermuk resort town, between rivers Arpa and Vorotan. The deposit is said to contain about 31 million tons of ore and 40 tons of pure gold.

Lydian Armenia (established in 2005, a 100% subsidiary of Lydian Canada Ventures owned by the American Orion Mine Finance and Canada's Osisko Gold Royalties) was until recently unable to develop the Amulsar mine in full due to protests by environmentalists and residents of the neighboring communities.

They are concerned that the operation of the mine may lead to the pollution of underground waters of Jermuk and Lake Sevan, causing an environmental disaster. Protests were regularly held there in 2018-2019, then again in 2020, demanding that the operations stop.

In August 2021, the Investigative Committee of Armenia published the final expert report commissioned to Earth link & Advanced Resources Development (ELARD) in the framework of a criminal case initiated on July 20, 2018.

According to the Investigative Committee, there are no environmental threats from the operation of the mine, and the likely risks can be controlled if appropriate measures are taken.  -0-