Social tensions around Amulsar mining project are rising in parallel with the escalation of the political crisis and the absence of adequate solutions in vitally important issues for the Armenian people. On the background of opposition parties, authorities and former political leaders, naming themselves the opposition, businesses engaged in the development of natural resources got activated intending to receive positive opinions and decision from the Government for their activities.
Public society, the local residents of enlarged Jermuk community are concerned about the latest statements by RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and RA Environment Minister Romanos Petrosyan about the possibility of resuming Amulsar project.
RA Environment Minister Romanos Petrosyan during a Facebook live press conference organized by the Azatutyun radio station on March 2, 2021 said, "We have not reached the threshold of making any decision on Amulsar mining, whether it is reaching a solution or making a political decision, unless the criminal case is resolved and the objective reality has not been revealed. The Amulsar issue is currently suspended because of the existence of a criminal case under investigation of the Investigative Committee. I myself will rely heavily on the outcomes of the criminal case. If such objective facts are raised that dispute both the positive conclusion of EIA expert assessment and the other institutional documents, permits that allow the operator to develop Amulsar gold mine. Just now Department of Licenses, Permits and Agreements of RA Environment Ministry is developing a draft water use permit for the development of Amulsar gold-bearing quartzite mine. Lydian Armenia is expecting to receive a 41.3 l/s water intake permit for industrial purposes from the Arpa River. The company has twice before applied for a larger volume of water (more than 40 l/s) required for long-term operation from the Arpa River, and in both cases received a rejection from the Ministry.
Reminder: In October 2019, the company was rejected to receive the necessary amount of water intake from the Darb River for long-term operation. "Lydian Armenia" has disputed that rejection of the ministry in RA Administrative Court. The trial in this case is still ongoing. The day of the court session is March 31, 2021.
According to Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan the Amulsar gold mine is very likely to be operated. "By the way, I would like to remind that I had considered the safety component very important in connection with Amulsar, saying that you see we are in a state of war, and when a war starts, the flow of tourists will not continue in our country. Then we may face currency problems. And in this situation, it is the specific mining industry that guarantees currency flows for the country; time has shown that. But on the other hand, I can state that we were also able to properly manage the financial market, and as a result, in January we had the issue of euro bonds, which was the most successful issue in the history of the Republic of Armenia," said the premier in an interview on 23 February, 2021.
Reminder: US $ 450,000 AMD was paid from the state budget to Earth link & Advanced Resources Development (ELARD) for the document expert assessment of Amulsar gold mining project appointed within the frames of the criminal case. Following the publication of this conclusion, the issue of annulling the environmental expert opinion on Amulsar project was raised. RA Environment Ministry presented to Chief of Staff of RA Prime Minister the position of the state authorized bodies, that of ELARD and TRC organizations. For example one of the main risks is uranium found in the Amulsar area in 1952-1954. “According to the State Nuclear Safety Regulatory Committee under the Government of the Republic of Armenia, as a result of the preliminary study of the submitted documents, the following conclusions were reached. Section 2.9 "Radiation Background" of EIA Report of Amulsar mine should be completely revised, taking into account the report on uranium prospecting held in the Amulsar area in 1952-54. If the mineral activity exceeds the value defined in RA legislation, its management must be carried out in accordance with the requirements of RA Government Resolution N 439 N dated on April 25, 2013”, the State Nuclear Safety Regulatory Committee conclusion says.
The public and, numerous independent experts believe that the risks of Amulsar project in Lydian’s project are underestimated, and the conclusion was issued with numerous violations of the current legislation and international conventions. In 2018, the residents of Jermuk balneotherapeutic resort, which was directly affected by Amulsar project, blocked the entrances to the mine and established permanent posts.
The legal substantiation for the long-term protest action was the violation of the rights of local residents to participate in public hearings on Amulsar project, which had not been organized in Jermuk. 3000 signatures were collected demanding to close Amulsar project in Jermuk, which carries risks for the further development of resort activities in Jermuk. For over two years the company has been trying to remove the posts of Amulsar defenders, including with the participation of the Lydian’s armed guards. The police intervened in the clashes. After the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in the fall of 2020, there were changes in the composition of Amulsar defenders. Many of them went to defend the borders, some died.
Despite the extremely difficult situation, Jermuk activists intend to continue the struggle for a "green" future of their town. To respond to officials the Amulsar defenders made a statement, which says: “Recently some officials and individuals have been expressing opinions that it is necessary to resume the open-pit gold extraction project near Jermuk, a renowned spa and well-known brand. In addition to the existing unacceptable arguments, they now claim that in the aftermath of the war, Armenia is in a stringent economic condition and additional financial resources are needed to overcome the crisis.
Cognizant of the heft of the period we live in, we continue holding to the same position that no metal mines should operate in our region, that short-term projects should not override a well-established economic sector that has been operating for over 70 years, one that has perennial prospects. We reinstated this position in a community petition collected in the fall of 2018, whereby around 3000 residents of the enlarged administrative unit of Jermuk signed to their opposition to metal mining in the community.
We continue holding to our wilful decision and will not allow, by all possible means, the destruction of our living environment and well-established social-economic system. We will not allow this to happen, especially now, after the war, when the state border has come as close as to Amulsar and Jermuk, where the mining project was planning dumping and storing dozens of thousands of hazardous chemicals, explosives and poisonous materials.
We call on all the decision-makers to evaluate the situation with a clear mind and refrain from any new reckless action repeating the hackneyed and unproven argument that “all risks are manageable”. We remind you that even the international review commissioned by the decision-makers proved the opposite, and the citizens of Armenia understood it well, despite efforts to show white as black.
To all those business entities that consider any partnership with the company wishing to mine gold at Amulsar, we friendly ask you to refrain from this idea and not to add to the severity of the explosive situation internally. Jermuk residents, nearby communities and the alert citizens of Armenia will not allow this attempt of building a chemical weapon of slow effect here, the dangers of which will persist for hundreds of years. AMULSAR WILL REMAIN A MOUNTAIN!’ the disseminated press release says.
To be continued
March 29, 2021 at 16:06