Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine Infrastructure and Environmental Risks

Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine Infrastructure and Environmental Risks

On November 18, 2024, the first hearings were held in Kapan regarding the application for the expansion of Artsvanik tailing dump of Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine CJSC (ZCMC). According to the hearing’s minutes, discussions covered both the issues surrounding the expansion of the tailing dump and the prospects and risks of the combine's operations, including social responsibility towards communities.

"The growing demand for rare and non-ferrous metals, without proper control and sustainable development perspectives, carries the risk of environmental pollution. From this perspective, special attention should be paid to responsible mining, transparency, accountability to communities, civil society, and state oversight. Public hearings, which raise pressing issues and can provide solutions, contribute to this process," said Inga Zarafyan, President of “EcoLur” Informational NGO.

General Information

ZCMC operates Qajaran copper-molybdenum mine. The mine covers an area of 421.2 hectares with reserves of 550 million tons of ore. Since 2016, ZCMC has been extracting 22 million tons of ore annually.

The primary elements of the mine are copper and molybdenum. Additionally, the ore contains gold, silver, rhenium, selenium, tellurium, bismuth, and sulfur. The value of certain elements in the ore is extremely high in international markets due to the "boom" in renewable energy and electric vehicle production sectors.

Currently, ZCMC's infrastructure includes the Qajaran copper-molybdenum mine, the combine, the active Artsvanik tailing dump with a volume of 325 million m³, as well as inactive tailing dump s (Voghji, Pkhrut, and Darazam) and waste rock dumps ("Spitak-1," "Spitak-2," and "Dzorategh") with a total volume of 163.6 million m³.

A 37-kilometer-long tailings pipeline connects the combine to Artsvanik tailing dump . The area impacted by the tailing dump includes Qajaran and Kapan cities and the villages of Syunik, Artsvanik, Sevakar, and Achanan.

Despite receiving environmental examination approvals, frequent leaks in Artsvanik tailings pipeline indicate that this facility is not entirely safe. There is a risk that, due to the combine's ever-growing production volumes, the tailing dump will soon cover hundreds of hectares of new land. In addition to land loss, there is a significant risk of underground water contamination from hazardous materials leaching from these lands.

The area where the active tailing dump is located belongs to seismic zone I, with a maximum expected acceleration of up to 8 points. Thus, in the event of an earthquake, the tailing dump could sustain damage at any time.

Pollution and Waste

Various chemical compounds are used to increase the concentration of valuable metals in the product, some of which are emitted into the atmosphere. Others remain in industrial waste and penetrate the environment through precipitation and water flows. Industrial waste is placed in tailing dump s, but their complete isolation is practically impossible due to continuous leaks and emissions.

Pollution also stems from waste dumps and barren rocks, from which metals and rare elements are extracted using relatively simple technologies. Emissions into the atmosphere include ore dust, limestone, sodium sulfide, xanthate vapors, molybdenum concentrate dust, carbon oxides, nitrogen oxides, hydrochloric acid vapors, nitric acid vapors, sulfuric acid vapors, inorganic dust, manganese oxides, suspended particles (metallic dust, welding aerosol, hydrocarbons, soot, sulfur dioxide, benzo[a]pyrene).

Weekly monitoring is conducted of the clarified waters from Artsvanik tailing dump and the upper and lower points of the Norashenik River's treated water discharge, as well as at the Kerni cutting section. Pollutants like Cu, Zn, Mo, Mn, Fe, Ca, Mg, NO, SO, CL, and suspended particles enter the Voghji River.

According to 2022 data from RA Environment Ministry “Hydro-Meteorological and Monitoring Center” SNCO, heavy metal concentrations of vanadium, copper, zinc, chromium, nickel, lead, and arsenic exceeded permissible limits in the area affected by Artsvanik tailing dump .

The Voghji River, along with its tributaries Artsvanik and Norashenik, is in the mining impact zone and has the highest pollution level, classified as grade 5.

In addition to ZCMC’s impact, the Voghji River is also polluted by acidic water from the abandoned Central (Kavart) mine in Kapan, as well as industrial waste and leaks from the Kapan enrichment plant.

Pollution has a long-term nature. However, no quantitative indicators have yet been established for specific sources of pollution.

According to studies by the Ecological-Noosphere Research Center of NAS RA:
a) In the soil  of Darazam tailing dump , molybdenum content exceeded the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) by 36 times, cobalt by 8.4 times, and nickel by 8 times.
b) In the soil of Kapan city, copper exceeded the MPC by 4.1 times, arsenic by 4 times, nickel by 2.5 times, lead by 2.4 times, and molybdenum by 1.94 times.
c) In some vegetable samples taken from Kajaran, mercury, cadmium, and lead concentrations exceeded permissible norms, posing potential health risks.
d) Samples from Meghri contained seven hazardous elements (Pb, Cd, As, Hg, Cu, Zn, Ni) as well as persistent organic pollutants like hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites.

The cancer risk levels in both regions exceeded acceptable levels by 6–10 times.

Social Responsibility

According to the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure's decree in 2021, the settlements of Qajaran, Qajaranants, Lernadzor, Nerkin Giratagh, Kavchut, Andokavan, Katnarat, Nor Astghaberd, and Geghi in Qajaran community, and Kapan, Artsvanik, Syunik, Achanan, Sevakar, and Chapni in Kapan community were designated as the affected communities of ZCMC.

According to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative report for 2021, ZCMC made financial and non-financial investments amounting to AMD 2,017,817,886 in Qajaran community and AMD 570,111,499 in Kapan community.

In 2021, the company also provided aid amounting to AMD 2,017,817,886. During the same year, ZCMC paid:

  • Royalties: AMD 39,561,079,696
  • Natural resource usage fees: AMD 32,563,968
  • Environmental taxes: AMD 229,420,416
  • Environmental taxes for imported goods from EAEU countries (according to submitted import tax declarations): AMD 3,808,604
  • Environmental taxes for goods from non-EAEU countries (according to customs declarations): AMD 18,761
  • Contributions to the Environmental Protection Fund: AMD 19,434,939
  • Monitoring implementation fees: AMD 2,757,188

To be continued in the next publication.

Photo Credit: Artsvanik tailing dump

January 07, 2025 at 17:08