On December 18, 2023, Meghradzor residents expressed their opposition to the plan to carry out a geological prospecting to re-evaluate the estimated reserves of nepheline-rich syenites in Tezhaget area.
At the residence of Administrative Head of Meghradzor settlement, "AM ART SHIN" LLC initiated a discussion on the preliminary assessment of the environmental impact of the study on the works under the program of geological prospecting for 2023-2026. Meghradzor residents, representatives of non-governmental organizations and civil initiatives attended this discussion.
Roland Ghonyan, the geologist of the company, presented the studies carried out in the mine during the Soviet years and related works. The residents responded to the geologist's observation that technologies have already developed, and it would be more effective to carry out research and new sampling there today, to obtain updated new data. "All those studies have already been done, there is no need for new studies, we know that behind these studies is your desire to exploit the mine."
At the end of the discussion, Administrative Head Hovhannisyan said that based on the discussion, minutes will be prepared and presented to the public.
Reminder: that the residents of Meghradzor rejected this plan of the company last year as well. The company came to the settlement with the same plan, which the local residents and civil society rejected.
It should be noted that according to Fadei Sargsyan, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (Деловой экспресс, 2005, N 21), Tezhasar project was rejected during the Soviet years due to high risks and imperfect technologies. In particular, he noted: "Although at that time more than 117 million rubles had already been spent on the project, nevertheless, the project was not implemented... If the plant works, all the vegetation within a radius of 15-20 km will be destroyed... The plant was built in a place where 50 thousand children rest every year... The waste would not only pose a risk to the atmosphere, but also to the water...The plant's waste would have to be buried in a waste pod method, as is the case with nuclear waste."
Please, watch the details of the discussion in the video.
December 18, 2023 at 16:45