EcoLur
Public and Fortune Resources Company are speaking almost in different languages and in parallel planes. This is what the discussion held at Nature Protection Ministry on 14 December convened by Minister Aram Harutyunyan by Armenian PM’s order.
The main item on the agenda is the operation of Fortune Resources Company in Hrazdan and Abovyan, where geological prospecting and research works for reserves specification are conducted in two iron mines.
Project risks are studied long ago and they received their evaluation by both the American University of Armenia still in 2008 and Engineering-Technological Academy: the loss of drinking water supplying not only Hrazdan, but also Yerevan, where half of the country’s population lives, pollution of Hrazdan with dust containing admixtures of heavy metals, proximity to strategic objects, such as railway and power station, pollution of underground sources, which is an inevitable process, as specialists of the Center for Hydrogeological Monitoring say.
The other side of this problem is legal issues, such as how legitimate the status of Fortune Resources is as the legal successor of Nagin Company in terms of mine development. Or how the positive environmental expert assessment opinion issued to Nagin Company in 2008, which is already expired, can have permitting force for Fortune Resources (as the company lawyer says).
Fortune Resources Armenian Project Director Jerry Gorman’s speech bewildered most people present. Jerry Gorman was speaking about investments and difficulties. He stated that the data submitted in Nagin project about iron reserves and its content were overstated and the whole project should be reviewed. Meanwhile Mr. Gorman spoke about risks in a rather perfunctory manner, in fact, he didn’t answer the questions about risks, he just said the company will reduce the risks up to minimum. However, it remained unclear how they are going to reduce them. Fortune Resources representatives turned down several suggestions, for example, to present documents, which prove the company’s statement about participation of three well-known companies in its operation- SRK Consulting (U.K.), ProMet Engineers (Australia), and Sinosteel Group (China). He said agreements are commercial secrets.
Summarizing the discussion Minister Aram Harutyunyan said that a new expert assessment must be carried according to new project documents submitted by Fortune Resources and new public discussions must be organized.
December 15, 2011 at 14:39