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CAMPAIGNERS DUBIOUS ABOUT ARMENIAN GOLD MINE
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
Aug 18 2015
Activists warn that plan might contaminate country's most important
water source.
by Arpi Harutyunyan
Environmental campaigners in Armenia say they are still worried about
the impact of a major gold mining project even though it has been
given the go-ahead by the ecology ministry.
Geoteam Company, a fully-owned subsidiary of British-based company
Lydian International, received the green light earlier this year
to go ahead with the project in Amulsar, 170 kilometres from the
capital Yerevan.
The company says it is fully committed to the highest standards of
environmental protection at the site, located on the boundary between
Vayots Dzor and Syunik provinces.
However, some environmentalists fear that mining gold here could have
a devastating impact not only on the surrounding villages but also
on Lake Sevan, the region's major freshwater source.
Campaigners have long been raising the alarm over projects they say
may contravene a special 2001 law which forbids any activity liable to
damage the unique lake's ecosystem. (See Greens Say Armenia's Prized
Lake Threatened by Mining and Oil Prospecting Seen as Latest Risk to
Armenian Lake.)
Gold mining is a particular worry as it involves the use of cyanide
to separate the precious metal from other ore material.
Amulsar lies between two major rivers, the Vorotan and the Arpa,
which feed Lake Sevan. Campaigners warning that cyanide leaching into
these rivers would have grave consequences.
"The Amulsar mine is located in the basin that feeds Lake Sevan,
and will contaminate surface and subterranean waters that run into
the Kechut and Spandaryan reservoirs and from there into Lake Sevan,"
said Nazeli Vardanyan, chair of the Forests of Armenia NGO.
Vardanyan noted that the Sevan law prohibited any kind of activity
"in the central zone, areas of direct and indirect influence [or which]
has a harmful impact on the ecosystem of Lake Sevan".
Karine Danielyan, the chair of the Association for Sustainable Human
Development, agreed. She emphasised the danger of open-cast mining
as well as the disposal of tailings, the residue left over after
valuable elements are extracted from ore.
"As a result of the mine, polluted water from the Arpa river will
descend through the drain into the reservoir where the Arpa-Sevan
culvert [underground channel] leads into Lake Sevan, the largest
reservoir of fresh water in the South Caucasus," Danielyan told IWPR.
Didier Fohlen, the executive vice-president of Lydian International
Ltd, told IWPR that although the concerns were understandable given
past experience in Armenia, they had no scientific foundation with
regard to the present project.
He said studies undertaken by local and international experts had
shown that there was no risk of Lake Sevan being contaminated as the
Amulsar operation was more than 50 km away and lay on the other side
of a watershed.
"Even theoretically, any contaminant going through the water tunnel
will have a major dilution effect," he said in a written statement.
"Additionally the processing plant is not in [the] Sevan catchment
area, and that is what the law requires. However, I want to emphasise
that during the design and engineering phases all modern technologies
and adequate mitigation measures are being put in place to ensure that
not only Sevan, but any other water basin around, is not impacted."
Fohlen also noted that this project would be the first time "heap
leaching" technology was employed in Armenia. This closed production
cycle is widely used in the United States, Australia, Canada and other
countries, and meant that there was no possibility of discharge into
the environment, he added.
In 2012, the Commission for the Protection of Lake Sevan, a group of
experts attached to the Academy of Sciences, issued a report critical
of the company's plans for Amulsar. In particular, the report noted
that "numerous flows of subterranean water and dangerous substances
will enter the river Vorotan, and then will enter Lake Sevan via the
Vorotan-Arpa-Sevan culvert".
The commission also warned that the mine was in an area prone to
earthquakes and said that Geoteam had not studied how its operations
would respond to seismic disturbance. It said conditions were ripe
for hazardous spills to end up in Lake Sevan. However, after revising
the document in March 2015, the commission noted that "the contractor
had taken the suggestions into account and incorporated them into
the plan".
CLAIMS OF LACK OF CONSULTATION?
Residents of the area say Geoteam has not done enough to keep them
informed and address their fears. The Women's Community Council of
Martuni, a local NGO, wrote an open letter to the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance
Corporation (IFC), both of which are major shareholders in Lydian
International Ltd, the parent company of Geoteam. They asked for the
concerns of residents of 40 settlements in the Lake Sevan basin to
be taken into account, and for locals to be able to participate in
public hearings.
"We are currently not only deprived of the necessary information, but
also the opportunity to take part in public hearings and to express
our views about the project, even though the communities adjacent
to Lake Sevan are in the area directly affected by the mine," Anahit
Gevorgyan, the chairwoman of the Martuni Women's Community Council,
told IWPR. "Therefore, we demand that our voice be heard."
She added that Armenia had joined the Aarhus Convention, which
guarantees the public free access to information on environmental
issues.
Sam Walker, EBRD senior advisor on environment and sustainability,
told IWPR that Lydian had originally received permission to develop the
mine in the Vorotan valley in 2001, following thorough engineering,
geotechnical and environmental studies. At the time, the valley was
not part of a designated "immediate impact zone" around the lake,
and ore processing was permitted.
After the Armenian government enlarged the Lake Sevan Immediate Impact
Zone in 2012, Lydian agreed to move the ore processing facility to
the current proposed location south of the village of Gndevaz.
"As a result, communities residing within the vicinity of Lake Sevan
are, of course, considered to be interested stakeholders but not
directly affected by the project," Walker wrote in a statement to
IWPR. "It is typical for a company to focus their consultation on
affected population and groups. For others in the wider geographical
area that has been shown not to be affected directly by the project,
information is available and comments are welcomed, but there would
normally not be the same level of consultation as with those directly
affected.
Walker noted that the company had carried out an environmental and
social impact assessment, in line with international standards, and
that "these studies have been publically disclosed and are available
for review by all interested parties".
"The potential impacts to Lake Sevan have been assessed in detail
[in these studies] and it is important to note that as a result of
these studies, no residual impacts to Lake Sevan are anticipated during
the development or operation of the mine, or after the mine closure,"
he said.
He noted that public hearings had been scheduled in Gorayk, Gndevaz,
Saravan, Jermuk and Yerevan.
Fohlen, too, emphasised that the company was sharing all relevant
information and that "each and every citizen of Armenia is welcome
to participate" in its public hearings.
"Whether or not a community is considered to be affected is a sole
decision of the government of Armenia, according to national laws and
regulations. So far we understand they are not affected. Again it is
the government of Armenia, not us, who set criteria," he continued.
Satik Badeyan, the director of the Centre for Regional Development and
Research NGO, said her group had backed the letter of the Community
Council of Martuni Women.
"The only reason we came to live here was because of Lake Sevan.
Otherwise it would be really hard to live in a harsh climate like
this. People's livelihoods here depend on the lake: the purity of
the water, fish stocks, and attraction for tourism. However, if the
Amulsar operation is allowed to go ahead, we might be deprived of
our only source of income," she told IWPR.
Badeyan also warned that pollution risked completely destroying rare
fish species listed in the Red Book, the list of threatened plants
and animals.
However, Fohlen said that Lydian had conducted a detailed, four-year
study on the mine's possible impact and identified all potential
threats to the area's biodiversity.
Bardukh Gabrielyan, the director of the Scientific Centre of Zoology
and Hydrology, helped compile this survey. He said that the company
had considered the results of the research and taken the proposals
into account. The expert group gave a detailed assessment of the
potential impact on biodiversity in local communities.
"In the first study, we found that on the hills [around] Amulsar
there are flora and fauna species which require protection. As a
result, the company changed their programme and will not drill on
these precious hills," he told IWPR.
George Fayvush, a senior researcher at the Institute of Botany,
also took part in the study. He said that the region was home to
porphyritic cinquefoil, a rare plant also listed in the Red Book.
He said that the mining company was ready to allocate several hundred
thousand dollars to conserve this plant species, which grows only in
three countries.
"We are currently researching the conservation of this type of plant,"
Fayvush told IWPR. "We are trying to work out if it can be relocated."
BOOST FOR ARMENIAN ECONOMY
The mine's developers point out that it offers major economic benefits
for the country.
Howard Stevenson, head of Lydian, told a May meeting of the EBRD in
Tbilisi that the Amulsar development would contribute 488 million
US dollars to the Armenian treasury in taxes and royalties alone
throughout the life of the mine.
"The direct effect of the Amulsar programme on Armenia's GDP, according
to the calculation of the group of independent experts, is estimated
to be 120 million dollars annually. We believe that we will be among
the top five largest taxpayers in Armenia," he told the annual meeting.
But campaigners say that this revenue boost will not be worth the
toll it may take on the local area.
Levon Galstyan, of the All-Armenian Ecological Front, said that the
country simply could not accommodate any more mining projects without
suffering serious environmental damage.
"Any exploitation of new deposits could be destructive for our
country, and promising economic calculations should not matter,"
he said. "Armenia is becoming an ecological disaster zone, because
it is simply barbaric to have so many mines in such a small country."
The US government has given the Amulsar project its backing. US
ambassador Richard Mills joined Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian and
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Yervand Zakharian on a visit
to the Amulsar site on August 15.
"The Amulsar project is the largest international investment in
Armenia,"a statement from the embassy said. "Ambassador Mills
emphasised that the opening of this mine is an important economic
opportunity for Armenia, and underscored the equal importance of
ensuring that potential harm to the environment is minimised.... In
that regard, Ambassador Mills mentioned that Lydian International
is known for utilising responsible mining practices that adhere to
international environmental standards."
Arpi Harutyunyan is a freelance journalist in Armenia.
CAMPAIGNERS DUBIOUS ABOUT ARMENIAN GOLD MINE
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
Aug 18 2015
Activists warn that plan might contaminate country's most important
water source.
by Arpi Harutyunyan
Environmental campaigners in Armenia say they are still worried about
the impact of a major gold mining project even though it has been
given the go-ahead by the ecology ministry.
Geoteam Company, a fully-owned subsidiary of British-based company
Lydian International, received the green light earlier this year
to go ahead with the project in Amulsar, 170 kilometres from the
capital Yerevan.
The company says it is fully committed to the highest standards of
environmental protection at the site, located on the boundary between
Vayots Dzor and Syunik provinces.
However, some environmentalists fear that mining gold here could have
a devastating impact not only on the surrounding villages but also
on Lake Sevan, the region's major freshwater source.
Campaigners have long been raising the alarm over projects they say
may contravene a special 2001 law which forbids any activity liable to
damage the unique lake's ecosystem. (See Greens Say Armenia's Prized
Lake Threatened by Mining and Oil Prospecting Seen as Latest Risk to
Armenian Lake.)
Gold mining is a particular worry as it involves the use of cyanide
to separate the precious metal from other ore material.
Amulsar lies between two major rivers, the Vorotan and the Arpa,
which feed Lake Sevan. Campaigners warning that cyanide leaching into
these rivers would have grave consequences.
"The Amulsar mine is located in the basin that feeds Lake Sevan,
and will contaminate surface and subterranean waters that run into
the Kechut and Spandaryan reservoirs and from there into Lake Sevan,"
said Nazeli Vardanyan, chair of the Forests of Armenia NGO.
Vardanyan noted that the Sevan law prohibited any kind of activity
"in the central zone, areas of direct and indirect influence [or which]
has a harmful impact on the ecosystem of Lake Sevan".
Karine Danielyan, the chair of the Association for Sustainable Human
Development, agreed. She emphasised the danger of open-cast mining
as well as the disposal of tailings, the residue left over after
valuable elements are extracted from ore.
"As a result of the mine, polluted water from the Arpa river will
descend through the drain into the reservoir where the Arpa-Sevan
culvert [underground channel] leads into Lake Sevan, the largest
reservoir of fresh water in the South Caucasus," Danielyan told IWPR.
Didier Fohlen, the executive vice-president of Lydian International
Ltd, told IWPR that although the concerns were understandable given
past experience in Armenia, they had no scientific foundation with
regard to the present project.
He said studies undertaken by local and international experts had
shown that there was no risk of Lake Sevan being contaminated as the
Amulsar operation was more than 50 km away and lay on the other side
of a watershed.
"Even theoretically, any contaminant going through the water tunnel
will have a major dilution effect," he said in a written statement.
"Additionally the processing plant is not in [the] Sevan catchment
area, and that is what the law requires. However, I want to emphasise
that during the design and engineering phases all modern technologies
and adequate mitigation measures are being put in place to ensure that
not only Sevan, but any other water basin around, is not impacted."
Fohlen also noted that this project would be the first time "heap
leaching" technology was employed in Armenia. This closed production
cycle is widely used in the United States, Australia, Canada and other
countries, and meant that there was no possibility of discharge into
the environment, he added.
In 2012, the Commission for the Protection of Lake Sevan, a group of
experts attached to the Academy of Sciences, issued a report critical
of the company's plans for Amulsar. In particular, the report noted
that "numerous flows of subterranean water and dangerous substances
will enter the river Vorotan, and then will enter Lake Sevan via the
Vorotan-Arpa-Sevan culvert".
The commission also warned that the mine was in an area prone to
earthquakes and said that Geoteam had not studied how its operations
would respond to seismic disturbance. It said conditions were ripe
for hazardous spills to end up in Lake Sevan. However, after revising
the document in March 2015, the commission noted that "the contractor
had taken the suggestions into account and incorporated them into
the plan".
CLAIMS OF LACK OF CONSULTATION?
Residents of the area say Geoteam has not done enough to keep them
informed and address their fears. The Women's Community Council of
Martuni, a local NGO, wrote an open letter to the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance
Corporation (IFC), both of which are major shareholders in Lydian
International Ltd, the parent company of Geoteam. They asked for the
concerns of residents of 40 settlements in the Lake Sevan basin to
be taken into account, and for locals to be able to participate in
public hearings.
"We are currently not only deprived of the necessary information, but
also the opportunity to take part in public hearings and to express
our views about the project, even though the communities adjacent
to Lake Sevan are in the area directly affected by the mine," Anahit
Gevorgyan, the chairwoman of the Martuni Women's Community Council,
told IWPR. "Therefore, we demand that our voice be heard."
She added that Armenia had joined the Aarhus Convention, which
guarantees the public free access to information on environmental
issues.
Sam Walker, EBRD senior advisor on environment and sustainability,
told IWPR that Lydian had originally received permission to develop the
mine in the Vorotan valley in 2001, following thorough engineering,
geotechnical and environmental studies. At the time, the valley was
not part of a designated "immediate impact zone" around the lake,
and ore processing was permitted.
After the Armenian government enlarged the Lake Sevan Immediate Impact
Zone in 2012, Lydian agreed to move the ore processing facility to
the current proposed location south of the village of Gndevaz.
"As a result, communities residing within the vicinity of Lake Sevan
are, of course, considered to be interested stakeholders but not
directly affected by the project," Walker wrote in a statement to
IWPR. "It is typical for a company to focus their consultation on
affected population and groups. For others in the wider geographical
area that has been shown not to be affected directly by the project,
information is available and comments are welcomed, but there would
normally not be the same level of consultation as with those directly
affected.
Walker noted that the company had carried out an environmental and
social impact assessment, in line with international standards, and
that "these studies have been publically disclosed and are available
for review by all interested parties".
"The potential impacts to Lake Sevan have been assessed in detail
[in these studies] and it is important to note that as a result of
these studies, no residual impacts to Lake Sevan are anticipated during
the development or operation of the mine, or after the mine closure,"
he said.
He noted that public hearings had been scheduled in Gorayk, Gndevaz,
Saravan, Jermuk and Yerevan.
Fohlen, too, emphasised that the company was sharing all relevant
information and that "each and every citizen of Armenia is welcome
to participate" in its public hearings.
"Whether or not a community is considered to be affected is a sole
decision of the government of Armenia, according to national laws and
regulations. So far we understand they are not affected. Again it is
the government of Armenia, not us, who set criteria," he continued.
Satik Badeyan, the director of the Centre for Regional Development and
Research NGO, said her group had backed the letter of the Community
Council of Martuni Women.
"The only reason we came to live here was because of Lake Sevan.
Otherwise it would be really hard to live in a harsh climate like
this. People's livelihoods here depend on the lake: the purity of
the water, fish stocks, and attraction for tourism. However, if the
Amulsar operation is allowed to go ahead, we might be deprived of
our only source of income," she told IWPR.
Badeyan also warned that pollution risked completely destroying rare
fish species listed in the Red Book, the list of threatened plants
and animals.
However, Fohlen said that Lydian had conducted a detailed, four-year
study on the mine's possible impact and identified all potential
threats to the area's biodiversity.
Bardukh Gabrielyan, the director of the Scientific Centre of Zoology
and Hydrology, helped compile this survey. He said that the company
had considered the results of the research and taken the proposals
into account. The expert group gave a detailed assessment of the
potential impact on biodiversity in local communities.
"In the first study, we found that on the hills [around] Amulsar
there are flora and fauna species which require protection. As a
result, the company changed their programme and will not drill on
these precious hills," he told IWPR.
George Fayvush, a senior researcher at the Institute of Botany,
also took part in the study. He said that the region was home to
porphyritic cinquefoil, a rare plant also listed in the Red Book.
He said that the mining company was ready to allocate several hundred
thousand dollars to conserve this plant species, which grows only in
three countries.
"We are currently researching the conservation of this type of plant,"
Fayvush told IWPR. "We are trying to work out if it can be relocated."
BOOST FOR ARMENIAN ECONOMY
The mine's developers point out that it offers major economic benefits
for the country.
Howard Stevenson, head of Lydian, told a May meeting of the EBRD in
Tbilisi that the Amulsar development would contribute 488 million
US dollars to the Armenian treasury in taxes and royalties alone
throughout the life of the mine.
"The direct effect of the Amulsar programme on Armenia's GDP, according
to the calculation of the group of independent experts, is estimated
to be 120 million dollars annually. We believe that we will be among
the top five largest taxpayers in Armenia," he told the annual meeting.
But campaigners say that this revenue boost will not be worth the
toll it may take on the local area.
Levon Galstyan, of the All-Armenian Ecological Front, said that the
country simply could not accommodate any more mining projects without
suffering serious environmental damage.
"Any exploitation of new deposits could be destructive for our
country, and promising economic calculations should not matter,"
he said. "Armenia is becoming an ecological disaster zone, because
it is simply barbaric to have so many mines in such a small country."
The US government has given the Amulsar project its backing. US
ambassador Richard Mills joined Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian and
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Yervand Zakharian on a visit
to the Amulsar site on August 15.
"The Amulsar project is the largest international investment in
Armenia,"a statement from the embassy said. "Ambassador Mills
emphasised that the opening of this mine is an important economic
opportunity for Armenia, and underscored the equal importance of
ensuring that potential harm to the environment is minimised.... In
that regard, Ambassador Mills mentioned that Lydian International
is known for utilising responsible mining practices that adhere to
international environmental standards."
Arpi Harutyunyan is a freelance journalist in Armenia.
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