Saturday, June 4 2016 04:55

"As of today we have a project, which received positive expert opinion from the Armenia's Ministry of Nature Protection, and we are ready to launch construction activities", Senior Manager on Sustainability at Geoteam CJSC Armen Stepanyan told journalists during the presentation of the International Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) of the Amulsar Project, which knows no equals on the territory of Armenia. 

Lydian International, the only shareholder of Geoteam Armenian CJSC, that has been licensed to develop the Amulsar deposit, published the updated ESIA on May 17. International independent expert companies Wardell Armstrong International, Golder Associates, TEC, ERM, Shared Resources, Shape Consulting as well as a number of Armenian scientific institutes and organizations worked on the document. The report adheres to the requirements of the International Finance Corporation and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. 

According to the Senior Manager on Sustainability, the report was first made public in May 2015. Within the year, the document has been revised and updated based on additional research and along with engineering changes of the project. "Certain corrections were made to both the Amulsar Project and the expenses, and additional environmental and social surveys were conducted for ESIA," Stepanyan said.  At the same time, according to him, the document is a result of consistent comprehensive work with the public to the respond to the public opinions, assessments and concerns. In this context, discussions with the representatives of the communities in Jermuk, a town adjacent to Amulsar, were held on May 31, while discussions with the experts on the presented report were organized on June 2.  Stepanyan assured media that the final version of the report will take into account the consultations and opinions made. The representatives of the company urged all the stakeholders to get familiar with the text of the document and, if necessary, to make proposals and recommendations.  

"Simultaneously, projects to develop the adjacent communities have been implemented since 2006. Within the last years, the program has been expanded. The company has been providing about $300,000-$400,000 for the development programs every years within several years," Stepanyan said.

Regional Director of Wardell Armstrong International David Brignall noted that one of the advantages of the Amulsar project is that compared to other deposits in the region and in the world it is a new one and therefore all the world tendencies on reduction of environmental impact will be considered prior to the launch of the project. Brignall noted that the main goal on the current stage is to reveal possible risks and ensure further efficient management of the project. 

Georgi Fayvush, Head of Department of Physiology and Environmental Geo-botany at the RA NAS Institute of Botany said the report is a unique one in its kind and is global by the scale of conducted research. "In terms of environmental protection the authors tried to maintain and to reduce the damage to the plants population as much as possible, while in terms of scientific research the possibility of not only maintaining but also increasing some kinds of plants was studied", he informed.

Touching upon the construction activities, Stepanyan said that certain activities have already been launched, but the main construction activities will start in summer. "According to the company's assessments, taking into account the world prices on precious stones, during the operation phase 480 mln USD taxes will be paid to the state budget," Stepanyan said. 

To note, Lydian International Limited is the sole shareholder of Geoteam CJSC.  The latter was incorporated in 2005 and after an extensive campaign of geological exploration in Armenia discovered what is now its flagship project - the Amulsar Mountain. Since 2006, the investment in exploration and other operations in Amulsar has amounted to nearly 80 million USD. Amulsar is a greenfield mining, the first for over 20 years in Armenia. The key shareholders of the Lydian are IFC, EBRD.  The company plans about $370 million capital investments in Amulsar project.  According to the feasibility study, the approved reserves are 2.5 million ounces, the total recoverable gold is 2.1 million ounces over a 10.4 year mine life, gold production averaging over 200,000 ounces per year  (10 million tons of ore), low all-in sustaining costs of $585 per ounce of gold, 87% gold recoveries.  Amulsar is the second largest deposit in Armenia in terms of the reserves. The Amulsar project envisages creation of 1,300 jobs in the course of construction and 650-700 jobs throughout the entire operation of the mine within the next 10 years.