EcoLur
The development of Amulsar gold mine is impermissible. The EIA of Amulsar project hasn’t studies the high risks of the landslide field in the area and its effect on Vorotan-Arpa aqueduct, as YSU Geography and Geology Faculty Dean Marat Grigoryan stated at the discussion entitled “Risks Related to Amulsar Gold Quartzite Mining” at YSU Sustainable Development Center.
“There is a landslide field in Amulsar area: Saravan-Gorayq road has been dislodged and undergone thorough deformation. Every year works have been conducted there to mitigate landslide phenomena. Company CEO Hayk Aloyan stated there is no landslide field, when this field is registered and is visible as a landslide field in the cadastre, which involved Yerevan-Meghri road. The upper part of the landslides involved their areas of use. Explosions, drilling works, traffic and generation of acidic water will only activate landslide phenomena. If the landslide phenomena become active, the only road connecting Armenia to Iran will be jeopardized. If something like this happens, we must spend dozens of millions on the construction of a new road or fighting these landslides,” Marat Grigoryan said.
The scholar said the impact of the project on the Vorotan-Arpa tunnel is not appraised either, which is also a high risk and again can generate financial burden for the state.
“The Vorotan-Arpa aqueduct lies at a distance of around 2.5 km from the mine and vast amounts of money were spent to construct this 21-kilometer-long section. All the water in this area, which is formed in Amulsar Area, a part of this water flows into this tunnel and runs to Kechout. The studies have shown that the chemical composition of water is drastically changing: it’s excluded that water forming in this area not flows into the tunnel. What the decomposition of an aqueduct mean? The profit that the state shall receive from the development of Amulsar mine, which is estimated in the amount of around US $ 500 million, i.e. US $ 50 million per year, is a negligible amount to be required for the preservation of Vorotan-Arpa aqueduct,” Marat Grigoryan said.
“If Armenia receives a profit of US $500 million from Amulsar project, the company will receive a profit of over US $ 2 billion. You won’t find any such transaction worldwide, it’s just a plunder, which must be stopped. I am not interested in money, but in the danger which threatens our country in case such a mine is developed,” YSU Geography and Geology Faculty Dean Marat Grigoryan stated.
He outlined that YSU Sustainable Development Center will submit proposals to the Armenian Government on the cessation of Amulsar gold mining project.
September 24, 2018 at 16:45