AT Metals LLC has submitted to RA Environment Ministry a request for a preliminary environmental impact assessment of Meghrasar gold mine in Syunik Region to extend the mining permit. The second public hearing of the project application will take place on April 26, at 15:00, in Meghri community hall, Syunik Region.
Meghrasar gold mine is located in Syunik Region, in the mountainous part of Meghri mountain range, at the altitudes of 2000-2700 m, 14 km away from "Arevik" national park. The nearest settlements are Tashtun and Lichq villages. "AT Metals" LLC received the soil management permit of Meghrasar gold mine in 2014. For a period of 7.5 years, which expired in in July 2021. Shortly after the operation of the mine and plant in 2015, the operations were stopped.
According to the company reports filed within Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Armenia (EITI) published on the website, AT Metals did not operate the mine in 2016-2018, and in 2017 the company's production volume made up 14,257 tons, out of which 10,855 tons of gold ore and 1,000 tons were sold to Tom and Mir LLC, 9855 tons to Kapan Mining and Processing Plant CJSC. In 2019, the company extracted 10811 tons of ore, out of which 9203 tons were sold to "Chaarat Kapan" CJSC.
Back in 2021, the company applied to Environment Ministry for a positive opinion on the request for a preliminary environmental impact assessment of Tashtun Gold Mining Plant upgrade project. Under the project, it was planned to process 52 thousand tons of ore annually. According to the working plan to extend the term of the extraction permit, the annual productivity of the open pit mine will be 50,000 tons of commodity ore, the total development capacity will constitute 6.32 years. The annual open pit will work 305 days in 3 shifts.
The project envisages the development of the mine with three consecutive open pits. The N1 open pit excavation rocks will be stored in external landfills, and the N2 and N3 open pit excavation rocks will be stored in the cultivated area of the N1 and N2 open pits, respectively. The extracted ore will be transported to the Tashtun ore processing plant, which is up to 20 km away.
In addition, under the 2470 m mark of the N1 and N2 open pit floors, this project envisages underground extraction of the remaining ore reserves in the areas of NN 3.9 and 4 mineral bodies. In this case, the service life of the underground mine will constitute 0.44 years. Thus, the total life of Meghrasar gold mine will make up 6.76 years. The company has ruled out environmental pollution in its bid.
April 18, 2022 at 14:16