Nikol Pashinyan: There are no legal grounds for prohibiting the   operation of the Amulsar mine 

ArmInfo.On September 9, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, during a regular conversation with a citizen on his Facebook page, again touched on the issue of  developing the Amuslar mine, urging citizens of the country who  blocked the road leading to the mine to unblock it. "As of right now,  we have no legal grounds to prohibit the operation of the Amulsar  mine," Pashinyan said.

The head of government recalled that he had previously instructed the  Ministry of the Environment to examine whether there was a reason for  an additional EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) by Lydian.  On  September 4, a response was received from the ministry; various  discussions took place on this issue in a working format. According  to the Prime Minister, the outcome of the discussions is as follows:   according to the legislation of the Republic of Armenia there are  absolutely no mechanisms that give the right, by administrative  decision, to demand a new EIA. "Even if de jure there is a need to  initiate such a process, this can be achieved only by the results of  additional verification," he explained. Moreover, as Pashinyan  pointed out, even conducting an audit and identifying violations does  not guarantee the imperative of a new EIA. , the head  of the Cabinet explained.

As Pashinyan assured, the Lydian leadership committed to 100% safe  operation of the mine. ,  he noted. According to the prime minister, he warned company  representatives about possible negative consequences for Lydian in  case of deviations from the agreements.  , the prime minister said.

According to the prime minister, the public anxiety cannot be  ignored. The authorities will take into account the anxiety of the  economic community. The prime minister recalled that Moody's recently  upgraded the credit rating of Armenia, which means an opportunity for  Armenian banks to attract cheaper and affordable credit funds. In  this context, as he pointed out, this rating also determines the  level of interest rates on loans provided by commercial banks to  citizens. At the same time, according to Pashinyan, improper response  to signals, including a ban on the operation of the Amulsar mine  without legal grounds, can negatively affect the international rating  of Armenia. If the authorities put environmental issues at the  forefront by banning the operation of the mine, then, according to  the Prime Minister, questions will arise about the development of  other mines in Armenia. "Then the international community will have  doubts about the non-discriminatory attitude of the republic," the  head of the Cabinet emphasized.

Nikol Pashinyan once again assured that the Armenian government  cannot turn a blind eye to possible environmental risks. "My position  today, as before, is that the mine can be exploited if it is safe for  the environment," he said, adding that the operator of the mine  guarantees safety both today and after the closure of the mine.

, the prime minister said. At the same time,  according to Pashinyan, he instructed to thoroughly study all the  issues that continue to concern Armenian society today, in  particular, in the framework of the criminal case instituted in the  IC under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia  (Concealment or willful misrepresentation of information on  environmental pollution).

According to the prime minister, representatives of Lydian  international plan to resume construction work no earlier than  April-May 2020, and the operation of the mine itself - by the 4th  quarter of 2020 or from January 2021.

To recall, after the change of the Armenian government, construction  work at the field was suspended as a result of protests by  environmental activists. The Armenian government decided to conduct  an additional EIA examination, which was ordered by Earth link &  Advanced Resources Development (ELARD). The examination cost the  Armenian taxpayer $ 396 thousand, however, after its publication,  questions regarding the safe operation of the mine became no less. As  a result, it was decided to hold a Skype conference with experts from  the ELARD consulting company, during which they stated that the EIA  conducted by Lydian in 2016 was insufficient to guarantee the  environmentally safe operation of the mine.

In addition, despite the fact that earlier the RA Investigative  Committee stated that the impact on the Arpa, Vorotan and Darb rivers  can be mitigated if Lydian Armenia implements 16 environmental  mitigation measures proposed by experts: 10 of which they are already  conducting, 5 - they will be ready to hold in the near future, ELARD  noted that they themselves did not see such events during the study  of the company's EIA.

As early as September 6, issues related to the situation around the  Amulsar mine program were discussed during a meeting between the  Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the interim president  of Lydian international company Edward Sellers and general director  of Lydian Armenia Hayk Aloyan.

It should be noted that Lydian Armenia is a subsidiary of the British  Lydian International. The total cost of the Amulsar project is $ 370  million. The mine's life will be 10 years and 4 months, with an  average of 200 thousand ounces of gold being mined annually. Amulsar  field is the second largest reserves in Armenia.  According to the  company, the mine contains about 73733 kg of gold with an average  grade of 0.78 g per ton, as well as 294.367 tons of silver with an  average grade of 9.29 g per ton. It is located in the south-east of  the country, 13 km from the resort town of Jermuk, between the rivers  Arpa and Vorotan.  Environmentalists and ordinary citizens are  concerned that the operation of the mine could lead to the pollution  of the mineral underground waters of Jermuk and Lake Sevan.