At his meeting with representatives of the Armenian community in Vladivostok, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the question of whether all mines have been put into operation or whether there are those that can be tendered for. The Prime Minister noted that he instructed to find new investors for the mines that were once opened, then left unfinished, and now not being developed, to develop these mines with their support.
In this regard, Inga Zarafyan, President of "EcoLur" NGO, told the "First News" that they conducted a research and found that there are about 30 metal mines in Armenia that have a license to operate, but mostly 6-7 are working mines. "They began to be developed back in the Soviet years, the metal reserves calculated in them fully corresponded to the economic benefits. Of course, we are talking about the mines in Qajaran, Agarak, Sotq, then the mines in Meghradzor and Akhtala were also added.
Then, due to different interests, different companies received mining licenses. Basically, they are not full-fledged mines, they can be evaluated as mineral deposits. But they were established as full-fledged mines and people got licenses. In fact, the following was done: people have extracted the best mineral, which is against the norms of normal development. If you take a mine, you have to take it not only from the rich veins, but also from the poor veins.
Because the mine reserve is estimated by the average index. If you only extract from the rich veins, you make a huge profit and the mine remains in ruins. Then it is very difficult to find people who will extract minerals from poor veins," Inga Zarafyan said.
September 12, 2022 at 12:38