On July 26, 2024, the discussion regarding Gladzor Polymetallic Mine took place with Vayots Dzor Regional Head Kolya Mikaelyan. Representatives of "Metal Gold" LLC, members of the initiative group against Gladzor polymetallic mining, Inga Zarafyan, President of "EcoLur" Informational NGO, and expert Roza Julhakyan, Director of "Forests of Armenia" NGO, human rights defender Nazeli Vardanyan, the residents of affected settlements, representatives of civil society and employees of the regional administration participated in this meeting.
Aram Osikyan, who is the representative of "Metal Gold" LLC, jointly the representative of "Vayq Metal" LLC and Founder of "Assat" LLC, assured in his speech that the mine will be operated for about 200 years, there will be a processing plant, and its productivity will be 100 thousand tons per year.
Aram Osikyan promised unprecedented social support. "It (the company) will cover all the tuition fees of the students. We will provide jobs to those with the background of geological education. Medical insurance will again be 50-50. According to today's calculations, the salary of the workers in the mine will be at least 150,000 AMD and 400,000 AMD on average. There will be at least 350 jobs, which will result in the increase in the number of marriages. Many relatives are abroad, they say they will return when the mine starts working, so the population will increase."
Roza Julhakyan, an expert of "EcoLur" Informational NGO, noted that "In the passport of the mine, there is an operation plant on the basis of Gladzor mine. There is a hint that it will be built in Gladzor. In other words, according to your plan, the construction of the factory will follow the exploration and operation of the mine."
Aram Osikyan answered that they have 21 hectares in the territory of Arin village and a permit for the construction of an enrichment factory.
Harutyun Gevorgyan, Leader of the initiative group against Gladzor polymetallic mining, noted: "Have you ever been interested in the water resources of Teqsar, where the four rivers originate from? The rivers of Vernashen, Malishka, Karmrashen and Yeghegis communities feed from there. Many fresh water springs originate from Teqsar, what will their fate be? In the 1960s, three mills were working on the Vernashen River, fish used to swim up to our mountains from the Arpa River, and our people could use fish. But then, the river completely dried up and became a desert as a result of explosions in the mine."
"My father worked in the mine at that time, when he was 16-17 years old. He always told us that their boss did not let him enter the mine. They told him not to enter the mine, a problem would arise. They also said that the reserves were very small, and they reached the point where the mine did not work," Mikayel Baghdasaryan, a Vernashen resident, outlined.
Hayk Isakhanyan, Assistant to Leader of the initiative group against Gladzor polymetallic mining, noted that Yeghegnadzor specially protected area was established in 1971 with the possibility of further expansion after the further exploitation of the mine had been rejected. "Teqsar, as a whole, with its surrounding areas is a specially protected area. We have 2-3 thousand bezoar goats, how to tell them not to be afraid of sudden explosions, dust, noise. We have an extremely amazing nature. The bears have increased so much, they have already entered the yards, this is the wealth of our nature," he said.
He raised the risks of uranium content in the area requested by the company. "There is a map presented in Petros Aloyan's book "Урановые руды Армени", where there are five uranium mines, one of which is Vedi-Vayq mine. There are three names that correspond to our region: Getik, Getap and Agarakadzor. Getik are the mountains located above Rind. Agarakadzor mountain range is 200 m away from the last coordinates you provided.
Arpa-Sevan aqueduct passing by Teqsar at the highest risk. Who can say that the "enriched" waters will not flow into the aqueduct? It is not excluded that we will pollute the entire basin of Lake Sevan," he outlined.
Nazeli Vardanyan, Director of "Forests of Armenia" NGO, noted: "In 2016, you presented the mining project in Gladzor with another company, Vayq Metal, where you said what is and what is not in that area according to Mendeleev's table of elements in grams. Then you got rejected by the council and others. Now that you have received a rejection for the mining project, we are doing a new study. If you didn't carry out a study then, but you said what the elements were, why are you misleading the people? Were you right then or now? If you are going to do the study now, then you have misled people back at that time.''
Touching on the risks of the project, Nazeli Vardanyan said, "The amount of sulfur here is high, acid drainage is an uncontrollable phenomenon. There is lead here, which causes many diseases in people. There is not even half a word written about uranium, when there is a large amount of uranium existing.
The human rights defender also mentioned that "No word was said about the red-listed species. At least you can see the bezoar goat and the mouflon with your own eyes. WWF Armenia is establishing eco-corridors in these areas, because there is a virgin nature here, and the communities will receive quite a lot of money to preserve nature."
After listening to the position of the attendees, Vayots Dzor Regional Head Kolya Mikaelyan summed up, "We did not gather to run a policy of protecting ones and harming the others. Our goal is to listen to each other. I need information from all sides to have a clear position. Let them consider our opinion, but eventually the people are decision-makers. We will establish a special working committee, where all interested parties should be involved, which will work in the communities, and eventually the issue will be closed."
The article was produced with the financial support of the Media Initiatives Center within the framework of "Expanding Production of Independent Content" grant project.
August 05, 2024 at 10:44