Eduard Aghajanyan: It may be said that there is no legal framework in  the mining sector in Armenia

ArmInfo. Caution on the part of the Armenian government in the issue of making a decision on the Amulsar project is due to the lack of a legal framework for the  mining sector. Chief of Stuff of the Government Office of Armenia  Eduard Aghajanyan, stated this during a conversation with journalists  on September 3.

"Because every decision can have legal consequences,  not only for the political team, but also for the international  rating of Armenia," he said.

At the same time, Aghajanyan said that this issue is also in the  center of attention of the authorities, and the government is  currently at the stage of making a decision on Amulsar, meetings are  being held, etc.

"I assure you that the government is taking concrete steps, including  in terms of regulating the legal framework. You know that the Office  for the Coordination of Inspection Bodies has submitted to the RA  National Assembly a package of laws that will provide the latter with  grounds for taking specific actions based on specific situations, the  possibilities of which they do not have under the current  legislation," he said.

In addition, the Chief of the government staff noted that in the near  future, headed by the new minister, the state environmental  department intends to carry out concrete actions on the Amulsar  project.  To recall, environmental activists oppose the development  of the mine, believing that it can cause irreparable damage to the  flora and fauna of the entire region. For a long time they have been  closing all ways to Amulsar, preventing them from expanding the scope  of work.

The Amulsar mine is the second largest in Armenia. According to the  company, the mine contains about 73,733 kg of gold with an average  grade of 0.78 g per tonne, as well as 294,367 tons of silver with an  average grade of 9.29 g per tonne. It is located in the southeast of  the country, 13 km from the resort town of Jermuk, between the Arpa  and Vorotan rivers. Environmentalists and ordinary citizens are  concerned that the development of the mine may lead to the pollution  of the mineral underground waters of Jermuk and Lake Sevan. In  addition to the water basin, the public is also concerned about the  possible presence of uranium reserves at the mine. The total cost of  the Amulsar project is $ 370 million. The life of the deposit is 10  years and 4 months, with an average annual production of 200 thousand  ounces of gold planned. To note, Lydian Armenia, which develops the  mine, is a subsidiary of the British offshore Lydian International.