On September 18, 2025, a public hearing was held in the Vardahovit settlement of Yeghegis consolidated community, Vayots Dzor Region, concerning the extension of the geological exploration period at the Vardenis polymetallic deposit until 2028.
The hearing was conducted in a tense atmosphere. Present were representatives of the Vayots Dzor Regional Administration, community residents, and civil society representatives. Participants expressed divergent views regarding the project’s future. Citizens opposing the activity raised concerns about possible threats to agriculture and public health. Representatives of the Regional Administration presented state investment programs in tourism and viticulture in Vayots Dzor, while civil society representatives highlighted the risks of pollution of the region’s water resources. Residents supporting mining activity mainly pointed to the problem of employment.
During the hearing, on behalf of the Working Initiative Group Against the Study, Extraction, and Operation of the Gladzor Polymetallic Mine and concerned citizens, initiative member Hayk Isakhanyan handed a petition-letter to Aharon Gabrielyan, Deputy Head of the Yeghegis Community. The petition contained objections and concerns regarding the possible consequences of mining activity.
The petition was also addressed to “Mendia Resources” LLC, the company carrying out geological exploration at the Vardenis polymetallic deposit site.
The petition specifically stated:
CLARIFICATIONS AND FACTS
Vayots Dzor Region has been recognized as one of the target regions of global warming, making the rational management of water resources extremely urgent and vital.
The region has three main water basins that meet drinking and irrigation water needs. Due to the absence of reservoirs, huge volumes of water flow out of the region:
- Upper valley of the Arpa River — Jermuk area
- Upper valley of the Yeghegis tributary of the Arpa River — Vardahovit area
- Tek Sar–Vayots Sar, Arpa–Yeghegis river catchment basin
Plans call for geological exploration and mining activities within the administrative territory of Vardahovit.
Near the studied deposits in Vardahovit, at depths of 100–600 meters, runs the Arpa–Sevan aqueduct. Groundwater from surrounding areas and mountains flows into the aqueduct, discharging into the Yeghegis Gorge and Lake Sevan.
Mining poses major risks to the environment and humanity in Vayots Dzor and the Sevan Basin.
EXPECTED DAMAGES AND RISKS FROM TODAY’S TECHNOLOGICAL CYCLE OF POLYMETALLIC MINING EXPLORATION AND OPERATION IN VAYOTS DZOR REGION AND LAKE SEVAN
- Stable and lasting contamination of areas, rendering them permanently unusable—irreversible loss of land
- Waste and tailings management for thousands of years, requiring enormous expenditures
- Reduction in water volumes, contamination of the water system, threatening the cleanliness of the Arpa and Yeghegis rivers and Lake Sevan
- Alteration and disruption of the geological structure of the area
- Loss of vegetation
- Loss of wildlife
- Decline in the quality of the living environment: reduced volume and quality of agricultural, viticultural, winemaking, and livestock products
- Decline in residents’ incomes, worsening of social conditions, emigration, and depopulation of settlements
Vayots Dzor lies entirely on the Vedi–Vayk uranium ore belt, and any metallic mining is accompanied by the activation of background radioactivity. If mines are exploited, animal husbandry, horticulture, winemaking, food production, agro- and ecotourism, and the guesthouse business—which today involves 25,000 residents of the region—will be endangered.
“Mendia Resources” LLC did not present a brief description of the deposit and a situational diagram at the public hearing scheduled for September 18, 2025. “We believe that the public hearing organized by the enlarged Yeghegis community and ‘Mendia Resources’ LLC as the initiator was permitted with gross violations of the law, is subject to annulment, and we propose issuing a negative conclusion.”
September 19, 2025 at 14:15