Armenian government accepts donation of 12.5% of Lydian Armenia shares

YEREVAN, January 18. /ARKA/. The Armenian government today approved a decision on accepting as a gift 12.5% of shares of Lydian Armenia Company, operating the Amulsar gold mine.

According to Deputy Minister of Economy Ani Ispiryan, accepting the shares as a gift does not entail any financial obligations on the part of the state.

"We hope that the Amulsar mine will become a platform for the introduction of new standards in the mining sector," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.

On February 22, 2023, a trilateral memorandum of understanding was signed between the Armenian government, Eurasian Development Bank and Lydian Armenia CJSC, according to which the parties committed to invest about $150 million in the development of the Amulsar gold mine.

According to the memorandum, the Armenian government was to receive 12.5% of the company's shares. After signing the memorandum, Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan said that the exploitation of Amulsar mine will provide the state budget with annual revenues of 30-40 billion drams.

Meanwhile, on December 14, Senior Executive Director of the Eurasian Development Bank Denis Ilyin said that the final decision on whether to invest in Amulsar deposit or not has not been made yet.

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 kilometers from the resort town of Jermuk, between the Arpa and Vorotan rivers. The deposit contains 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 US-based Orion Mine Finance and Canada's Osisko Gold Royalties) has been unable to fully develop the Amulsar deposit due to protests from environmentalists and residents of nearby communities. --0--