Another environmental campaign against mining is mounting in Armenia. This time environmentalists are concerned about the open-pit development of Amulsar gold mine on the administrative border of Armenia’s southern Vayots Dzor and Syunik provinces.

Even though ‘Amulsar’ literally means ‘sterile mountain’, it is rich in gold resources. According to the data of Lydian International Company, which has the license to develop the mine, the mountain could produce more than 80 tons of gold over the next 10-15 years if the mine is developed.

Geoteam Company, primarily owned by British Lydian International, will carry out the development of the mine. The official website of Geoteam Company reports that in 2009 the company got a special mining license from the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Armenia. The Amulsar program is funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Environmentalists say that the open-pit development of the mine, which is only some 13 kilometers from Jermuk resort town, will cause damage to not Jermuk mineral springs, but also to villages of Gndevaz, Gorayk and Saravan which are located near Mount Amulsar. They believe that large-scale blasting may result in the appearance of heavy metals in the air and pollution of the air and water in the area.

A petition is being circulated in Jermuk against the future development of Amulsar mine, and Republican Mayor of Jermuk Vardan Hovhannisyan also shares the concerns of his residents. Hovhannisyan told ArmeniaNow that the development of the mine would surely damage Jermuk.

“We have told the Government and the president about our concerns, saying that it may eventually become a big problem for Jermuk. Besides, we have an expansion program to be implemented. When people come to Jermuk they do not stay in a sanatorium the whole time, they get out. And our ropeway passes only a kilometer from Amulsar,” the mayor says.

The Government, as it has stated, tries to make Jermuk a center of tourism, a resort and a town where chess championships are held throughout the year. The concept paper on the town’s development was approved in 2008, and it was part of President Serzh Sargsyan’s election manifesto. According to this concept paper, in 2020 Jermuk must be able to receive 100,000 tourists annually, and create 4,000 jobs.

Lydian International in its turn states that the company bears great responsibility in its environmental and social standards. President and Chief Executive Officer of Lydian International Tim Coughlin told ArmeniaNow that he was surprised by the reaction they had faced in Jermuk, even in case when they had constantly made sure that their activity would do no harm to Jermuk.

“We set a very high level of performance, we want to be straight A students to make sure that none of our investors are embarrassed by the things that we do,” Coughlin says.

Coughlin says that they have updated residents of Jermuk, Gorayk, Saravan, and Gndevaz about their activities, they have held public hearings, and they plan to realize the mining through modern methods which exclude existence of a tailings depot in the territory.

Coughlin considers Jermuk mayor’s concerns to be logical and legal, however, he stresses that they have repeatedly given full answers to his concerns.

“Visibility - we have done a visibility study. You cannot see the mine from Jermuk, and we have presented that to the mayor who chooses to ignore this information. Noise – we guarantee they won’t hear the mine in general. Dust – we have done dust studies, the prevailing winds are from east to west not towards Jermuk, and in fact in modern mining blasting methods are different, they do ripple blasting, so the ground ripples and that decreases dust and decreases the noise. The biggest concerns are the vehicles moving around the surface so we keep that surface wet,” Coughlin explains.

According to Coughlin: Mining will create at least 200 jobs with at least 130,000 drams (about $340) monthly salary; they will become one of the major tax payers in Armenia; they are planning to plant 5,000 trees in the territory, and they are planning to support Jermuk development programs. (The company plans to start the development of the mine in 2014-2015.)

Mayor Hovhannisyan in his turn says that Lydian International’s arguments are not convincing.

“I asked them to bring an example when a resort town was turned into an industrial town. They bring me another example, saying that in town mining has been developed for about 100 years, then the mine was exhausted, and the town became a resort. However, a resort town was not turned into an industrial one. People prefer having their rest here because of Jermuk’s pure air and waters, and this program threatens all this,” Hovhannisyan concludes.