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GOVERNMENT ALLOWS DEVELOPMENT OF COPPER MINE IN NORTH ARMENIA
ARMENPRESS
Nov 1, 2007
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS: The government has endorsed today a
set of decisions allowing the Armenia Copper Program (ACP), a leading
Armenian mining company, to start development of a massive copper and
molybdenum deposit in the country's north despite strong resistance
from local environmentalists.
Speaking to reporters after the government session, trade and economic
development minister Nerses Yeritsian said development of the mine
located near the village of Teghut will be one of the biggest projects
to be implemented in Armenia. Experts estimate that the mine contains
1.6 million tons of copper and 99,000 tons of molybdenum.
The company intends to extract more than 30,000 tons of copper and
800 tons of molybdenum ores there per year. The minister said if
the current price of copper-$7,000-8,000 per one ton is maintained,
the company may sell annually up to $270 million worth products.
He said the ACP plans to spend $250 million on turning the area located
in the northern Lori region into a huge mine. This make take 4 years.
Environmentalists say if implemented, the project will lead to the
destruction of 357 hectares of rich forest, including 128,000 trees,
but the minister argued that careful calculations have shown that
the benefits which the country will receive will outweigh the damages
and losses.
All the questions of ecologists have been answered in the company's
project through a series of actions that will reduce the damage to the
environment, including large-scale works to restore tracts of forest,"
said the minister.
He added that some 1,700 jobs will be created in the economically
depressed area.
ARMENPRESS
Nov 1, 2007
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS: The government has endorsed today a
set of decisions allowing the Armenia Copper Program (ACP), a leading
Armenian mining company, to start development of a massive copper and
molybdenum deposit in the country's north despite strong resistance
from local environmentalists.
Speaking to reporters after the government session, trade and economic
development minister Nerses Yeritsian said development of the mine
located near the village of Teghut will be one of the biggest projects
to be implemented in Armenia. Experts estimate that the mine contains
1.6 million tons of copper and 99,000 tons of molybdenum.
The company intends to extract more than 30,000 tons of copper and
800 tons of molybdenum ores there per year. The minister said if
the current price of copper-$7,000-8,000 per one ton is maintained,
the company may sell annually up to $270 million worth products.
He said the ACP plans to spend $250 million on turning the area located
in the northern Lori region into a huge mine. This make take 4 years.
Environmentalists say if implemented, the project will lead to the
destruction of 357 hectares of rich forest, including 128,000 trees,
but the minister argued that careful calculations have shown that
the benefits which the country will receive will outweigh the damages
and losses.
All the questions of ecologists have been answered in the company's
project through a series of actions that will reduce the damage to the
environment, including large-scale works to restore tracts of forest,"
said the minister.
He added that some 1,700 jobs will be created in the economically
depressed area.