The three uncultivated tailing dumps of "Mego Gold" LLC are located in the administrative territory of Melikgyugh Community in Aragatsotn Region, Armenia, which are the cause of the regular pollution of the environment.
According to Melikgyugh Community Head Derenik Shahbazyan, the location for the construction of the tailing dump was wrongly selected from the very beginning. The community's drinking water line passes in their immediate vicinity. Not only are the tailing dumps not built in the right place, they are also technically incorrect. According to Inga Zarafyan, President of “EcoLur” Informational NGO, the tailing dumps do not have any protective structure. "They dug a hole above the village, and there could be a leak through it at any moment," she said. Only one of the three existing tailings dumps has a dam, which, in its turn, cracked years ago, with leaks interfering with the community's irrigation system and contaminating potato fields.
Director of "Forests of Armenia" NGO Nazeli Vardanyan mentioned that the locals have repeatedly alerted about the problems of pollution and the emergence of new diseases among animals. According to her, people have not avoided the negative impact either. "People have orange spots on their hands. We brought in a specialist who said it was the effect of acids and heavy metals. People felt it on their skin ...," she said.
Apart from tailing dumps, other sources of pollution are the central site and production landfills of the Tukhmanuk gold mine operated by Mego Gold LLC. According to Inga Zarafyan, heavy and ecotoxic elements associated with gold mining are spread from the Tukhmanuk gold mine to the environment: arsenic, surma, lead, cadmium, copper, manganese, vanadium, chromium, cobalt, nickel, zinc, tin, which are accumulated in Meliqgyugh, Rya Taza and Mirak villages and other adjacent land areas, bottom residues in Halavar and Qasagh rivers.
Inga Zarafyan quoted "Ecochemical analysis of soil and river sediments in Tukhmanuk mine zone" research article authored by Seyran Minasyan, Deputy Director of "Armecommonitoring" SNCO.
"This area is just poisoned. Heavy metals do not disperse if they enter a river and settle to the bottom of the river. Water contamination can spread to nearby soils, from soil to crops, and eventually enter the human body through the food chain. Dust can also form when the tailing dump dries out. That dust spreads with the wind rose, people breathe in that dust," she said.
However, Derenik Shahbazyan, Melikgyugh Community Head Derenik Shahbazyan, does not agree that the environment is currently being polluted. "It has not worked for many years and does not pollute. If all the clauses of the contract are adhered to, there will be very little pollution," he said.
Mego Gold was supposed to operate the central site of Tukhmanuk gold mine in 2012-2040, but after 2015 no work was carried out in the mine. This is evidenced by the information published on the website of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative of Armenia (EITI), according to which the company did not produce, sell or export in 2016-2019, whereas RA Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure (TAI) terminated the company's soil management right and the mountain allocation act, terminated the soil management contract in 2019. "Mego Gold" in its turn appealed TAI Minister’s decree.
In 2016, the company stopped paying annual rent of 14 million 150 thousand AMD for an area of 226 hectares belonging to the community. The municipality filed a lawsuit to collect the rent. As a result, the company was declared bankrupt in 2016 by the decision of the Court of General Jurisdiction of the Kentron-Nork-Marash administrative districts of Yerevan. In 2019, RA Bankruptcy Court started liquidation proceedings against "Mego Gold" LLC.
As early as 2021, the company began to repay its debts to the community. In his conversation with "EcoLur" Derenik Shahbazyan mentioned that the bankruptcy manager of "Mego Gold" has already transferred 52 million AMD to the community budget. "By May of this year, the debts had been paid. There are 5-6 million AMD left. Now the communities are getting bigger, so the money went to the fund budget. After the enlargement, we will demand our money and direct it to kindergarten, road construction and gas supply programs," he said.
In response to the question whether they will be in favor of reopening their mine, Derenik Shahbazyan said, "There are no other jobs in our village. We have 1200 inhabitants. Now they either go to Yerevan to work or go to Russia. Of course, they are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, but the population is more than the land. It is not enough. Is it possible to support a family with two hectares of land? The field is be waterless with the hope of nature. We sow wheat and barley, either it will grow or not,” he complained.
November 24, 2021 at 11:48