YEREVAN, August 13. /ARKA/. Employees of Amulsar gold mine, located 13 km kilometers from the resort town of Jermuk, have gathered today outside the government building to protest against the suspension of its operation.
"We have not worked for 53 days now, and have repeatedly asked the government to resolve this issue, but we have not received any answer so far. Today we decided to gather here to get answers to our questions," Mkhitar Arshakyan, an expert of the Lydian Armenia company, which owns and runs the mine, told reporters. He said they were resolute and ready to wait for the government's response as long as needed.
Varag Siseryan, the head of the office of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, met with protesters and asked them to wait for another couple of weeks.
"You have waited for 53 days. We ask you to wait a little longer for a task force, set up by the government, to conclude a study regarding the environmental safety of the mine, which will be used by the government to make its final decision on whether to allow the operation of the mine or close it,’ he said.
All the roads leading to the Amulsar gold deposit have been blocked since June 23 by a group of residents of nearby communities and Armenian environment protection groups, although Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan asked them to remove the blockade and wait for the findings of the task force.
Environments argue that the Amulsar project, if implemented, will contaminate not only air, water and soil in the area, but also Armenia’s largest Lake Sevan.
Lydian Armenia was founded in 2005, and all 100% shares in it are owned by Lydian International. The Amulsar mine program is the first project of the company in Armenia. The Amulsar gold deposit is the second largest deposit in Armenia in terms of gold reserves and is said to contain about 31 million tons of ore and 40 tons of pure gold. -0-