Monday, August 26 2019 19:24

ArmInfo.An examination on the Amulsar project of the Earth Link & Advanced Resources Development (ELARD) consulting company was carried out on the basis  of documents, and not on the gold deposit itself. This was announced  on August 26 at a press conference by the head of the Investigation  Group on Amulsar, Yuri Ivanyan.

''The documentary examination covered all the available studies,  presented not only by Lydian Armenian, but also by various  ecologists, scientists, state, specialized international  environmental structures, including the study of the Bronozyan team,  "he explained.

Referring to the results of the examination, Y. Ivanyan once again  emphasized that the environmental risks in the case of the operation  of the mine will be completely controlled. In particular, in this  vein, the head of the Investigative Group continued: "The experts  concluded that the impact of the project on air quality is  controllable and the concern that dust can reach Jermuk and the  surrounding areas is unreasonable." At the same time, Y. Ivanyan  noted that a number of errors were identified in terms of geology and  water resources. However, he noted that it is worth evaluating the  conclusion in a general context, in particular in terms of the degree  of risk manageability.

At the same time, he emphasized that in the case of exploitation of  the Amulsar gold ore deposit, monitoring should be carried out daily.  "Neither Lydian Armenia nor any other mining company should be  satisfied with the results of studies on environmental and social  impact assessments, monitoring should be carried out continuously,"  he said.

To note, in September 2018, the Armenian government commissioned an  assessment of the possible consequences of the Amulsar Gold project  in terms of water resources. The scope of this audit also included  analysis of the environmental impact assessment (). And this  despite the fact that the EIA of the company was previously approved  by the Armenian authorities in accordance with the legislation of  Armenia - before Lydian initiated the Amulsar project. Earth link &  Advanced Resources Development (ELARD) was selected as a consulting  firm. In February 2019, the Armenian government allocated 396,900 US  dollars to finance the third audit, which was announced earlier.

To recall, the Amulsar gold deposit development is the largest  industrial project in Armenia today with a total value of $ 370  million. In August 2016, the start of the project involving the  construction and development of the deposit took place. Preparatory  work has been carried out since 2006. The life of the Amulsar deposit  will be 10 years and 4 months; an average of 200 thousand ounces of  gold (about 10 million tons of ore) is planned to be mined annually.  Estimated mineral resources, as indicated in the Technical Report for  the 1st quarter of 2017, contain 3.5 million verified and indicated  ounces of gold and 1.3 million estimated ounces of gold. Amulsar  field is the second largest reserve in Armenia. The company's shares  are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

To note, last summer the project had to be frozen becasue of the  actions of environmental activists who blocked the entrance to the  territory of the mine under construction. The new government of  Armenia did not begin to use force and stated the need for a new  environmental impact assessment to ensure full confidence in the  safety of future operation of the field, located a few kilometers  from the spa resort town of Jermuk.