Lydian Armenia provided responses to recommendations contained in the  environmental audit 

ArmInfo.Lydian Armenia has reviewed the report prepared by Earth Link & Advanced Resources Development on its audit of environmental aspects of the Amulsar  Project, which was provided to the Government of Armenia on August 7,  2019.  Lydian Armenia has responded to the recommendations contained  in the report.

According to the statement spread by the company, Edward Sellers,  Interim President & CEO of Lydian International, commented: "The  Audit Report substantiated Lydian's prudential approach to  environmental stewardship. Lydian's responses to the recommendations  contained in the Audit Report speak for themselves, and Lydian has  made its responses public so that fair minded people will be fully   informed." Mr. Sellers continued: "Lydian's environmental practices  meet or exceed all applicable international standards, and were fully  evaluated and confirmed as part of the comprehensive assessment under  which Lydian received its mining permits." "The Company provided  every piece of information requested of it as part of the audit, and  all information was consistent with that provided by or on behalf of  the Company in support of prior environmental assessments and  numerous audits. The information provided was more than sufficient  for the authors of the Audit Report to form professional judgements  consistent with those of other international experts who have  previously considered the matters covered by the audit." Lydian  operates in Armenia in accordance with its mining permits, which were  granted based on a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment  approval process. Nevertheless, Lydian's Amulsar Project has been  subject to three full-scale environmental audits since July last  year. Lydian has fully cooperated with all audits. 

To recall, the Investigative Committee of Armenia on August 14  released the final expert report on the Amulsar mine, conducted by  the expert group of the company (ELARD). According to its results,  the probability of the impact of the polluted waters of the Amulsar  mine on the sources of Jermuk is next to nothing, and the criminal  case against the company has been terminated.  Amulsar mine is the  second largest gold reserve in Armenia. The deposit was transferred  to the management of the international company Lydian International  (through its subsidiary Lydian Armenia).  Environmental activists  claim that dust from the Amulsar Gold Mine can be dangerous for  Jermuk and can reach Lake Sevan through groundwater. Opponents of the  field development periodically organize rallies and protests.   Earlier, world-famous musician, frontman of the cult rock band System  of a Down, Serj Tankian joined the Save Amulsar campaign initiated by  opponents of the development of the Amulsar gold mine saying that the  United States together with Canada and Great Britain, are putting  pressure on the Armenian authorities in the interests of the Lydian  International mining company. whose subsidiary is developing  Amulsar.