EcoLur
The presentation of “Gold Mine for Sevan” film took place in UNDP office in Armenia on 11 December.
Film is shot by “Ecolur” and AWHHE organizations in the framework of “S.O.S. Sevan” campaign together with the support of Women in Europe for a Common Future Network (WECF).
Please, read published materials on this issue.
INTERESTS OF GOLD MINERS AND LAKE SEVAN
Hripsome Khachatryan, Panorama.am
Today in the frames of “The risks of Gold Mining for Lake Sevan” round table meeting “Golden Mine for Sevan” film presentation has been conducted, said Inga Zarafyan, the President of “Ecolur” NGO to Panorama.am.
“It has been found out that “GeoProMining” company which is the owner of Ararat Gold Recovery Company and Sotk mining plans to transfer the production from Ararat to Sotk. In fact this is not a new idea, as in 2005 “Vedanta Resources” Indian Organization had some plans on this issue, but their project has been rejected by the Ministry of Environmental Protection,” said Zarafyan.
Currently the company has started its activities and Lake Sevan is in danger.
SEVAN TO TURN INTO A “GOLDEN” LAKE?
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Lake Sevan is in danger again. The gold-extracting “GeoProMining” company- owner of the Ararat Gold Extraction Company and the Sotk gold mine exploitation concession- plans on moving the gold production unit from Ararat to Sotk.
According to ecologists, the cyanide technologies of gold extraction and joining of chemical substances will increase the risks for the lake. Besides that, the wastes such as poisonous metals and elements that gather in the granary will remain that way for millions of years.
Ecologists consider that as a violation of the law and predict that in a couple of years it will be impossible to prevent the outflow of dust that spreads to Lake Sevan through scraps and winds.
“Sevan is in danger because the interests of gold extractors are high,” said ecologists today during a round-table discussion on “Risks for Sevan from gold mining” in the UN Office of Armenia.
In the beginning of the discussion, participants watched a film entitled “Golden mine for Sevan” about the consequences of a transaction of gold mines in Ararat and Vardenis.
Head of the National Committee of the UN Environmental Protection Program, president of the “For Stable Development” Association Karine Danielyan said that the issue must be perceived in the context of development of the country.
“It is time to think about what course we are going to take,” said Danielyan. Professor of the Armenian-Russian University Gagik Sukhudyan said that the pollution of Sevan’s basin is a violation of the law and the issue must be raised in the European Court.
“I have come to the conclusion that we must allocate peacekeeping forces between our administration and Mother Nature,” said Sukhudyan.
Let us recall that former owner of the Indian gold-extracting factory “Vedanta Resources” had the desire to move the production unit from Ararat to Sotk back in 2005. The Armenian administration denied the proposal, but temporarily. Only in May this year did it become clear that the new owner of the factory-“GeoProMining”-has restarted the work of the factory and is getting ready to draft a complete plan with an evaluation of the influence on the environment.
Ecologists have expressed concerns to the RA Ministry of Environmental Protection, but it wasn’t until recently that the Minister heard the government’s decision to not back the project during an outgoing session in Sevan.
“We know that the owners of that company are lobbying the project at high levels and according to our data, there are people who are trying to green light that project. Head of the government’s natural resources management agency Artashes Zeroyan was supposed to speak at the discussion, but he didn’t show up. This raises worries that perhaps there is some pressure,” said head of the “Ecolur” information NGO Inga Zarafyan.
ALARM SIGNAL: SEVAN IS IN DANGER
Marianna Gyurjyan, Radiolur
“Golden mine for Sevan” film is a signal of alarm. The GeoProMining Company, the concession manager of the gold processing plant in Ararat and Sotk ore mine, intends to move the production from Ararat to Sotk.
“Currently the company has started financing the scientific research into the influence on the environment in Sevan,” the author of the film scenario, President of the “EcoLur” information Center Inga Zarafyan said. According to her, surveys have shown that citizens oppose the implementation of the gold mining project in Sotk. The technologies and chemical compound used for gold processing will multiply the threats to the lake.
“Sevan is a national value. After being proclaimed a National Park in 1977 it had to become a zone of special protection,” expert Gagik Sughudyan says. “If it is possible to open metal ores here, then we violate those laws. Peacekeeping forces should be deployed between today’s authorities and nature to have the nature stay untouched.
GEOPROMINING IS A “GOLD MINE FOR LAKE SEVAN”
Karine Manukyan, ArmInfo
The premiere of the documentary "Gold Mine for Lake Sevan" directed against construction of a gold recovery plant near Lake Sevan by GeoProMining (GPM) company. Though such activities near the Sevan basin are banned by the Armenian Law "On Lake Sevan", in 2008 GPM started high-level negotiations on this issue. Being guided by its own economic interests, the company has stated the unprofitability of construction of the plant in both Ararat and Gagarino, and has been insisting on moving production to the Sotk gold deposit. As this needs serious legislative changes, early in November GPM started exploiting the Sotk deposit and launched the processing plant in Ararat. The commercial gold melting started in December.
During the presentation of the film, Inga Zarafyan, the president of Ecolur NGO and scriptwriter of the film, said it is wrong to venture Armenia's natural resources in favor of GPM economic interests.
She added that now the opened Sotk mine endangers the lake as winds bring toxic substances to the lake. As a result, heavy metals pile not only in the water, but also in the organisms of Sevan fish and
lobsters.
"It is noteworthy that despite the recent statements of GPM about unprofitability of production in Ararat, in December the company started melting gold at the given concentration plant. This once again proves that GPM fears about big losses were slightly exaggerated, particularly, if one takes into account the statements of residents of Vardenis town near the Sotk deposit who say that the gold content in the ore is so high that the rock refuse does not scale off from a hammer blow",- Zarafyan said. She thinks that the Environment Ministry of Armenia lacks a distinct position on this issue.
The film "Gold Mine for Lake Sevan" was shot by the efforts of Ecolur NGO and Armenian Women for Health & Healthy Environment (AWHHE) NGO with the support of Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF). To recall, organizations from the United States, Great Britain, Mexico, Venezuela, Kyrghizstan, Bulgaria and Uruguay have already joined the S.O.S. Sevan campaign. The information on the situation around Lake Sevan was disseminated by Ecolur NGO in collaboration with AWHHE via WECF.
Read more about this story in Armenian and Russian.
December 12, 2008