Gold Plant Near Lake Sevan

[MosJan]

GOLD PLANT NEAR LAKE SEVAN

 

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 5, ARMENPRESS: Armenian nature protection minister Vartan Ayvazian has endorsed today the arguments of local ecological non-governmental organizations who claim that construction of a gold ore processing plant in Vardenis near Sotk mines would prove catastrophic for environment and especially Armenia's biggest lake of Sevan, located some miles off.

The exploitation of the Sotk gold mine began in 1976 and continued throughout the remaining years of the Soviet Union by Ararat Gold Recovery Company ltd. (AGRC). In 2002, an Indian company, Sterlite Gold ltd., bought all the shares of AGRC, and started processing the accumulated gold at the Ararat plant and exploiting the Sotk open-shaft gold mines. The Indian company first asked the government's permission to build the factory in 2004 saying transportation of the ore to current plant located in the town of Ararat, more than 200 km away, was too costly.

Speaking at a round table discussion of the issue Ayvazian cited the findings of an ecological expertise which found that if the plant were built chemical substances used for gold separation would flow into rivers and the lake to jeopardize the local nature and people. Another argument he cited was that the proposal did not comply with provisions of the Law on Lake Sevan that bans construction of ore processing plants around the lake.

The minister also shrugged off letters of local residents asking for the government's permission to build the factory as it would create new jobs in unemployment stricken region, but added the government may revise the ban should the local residents propose alternative, much safer technologies.