It is a responsible mining industry with minimal negative impact on the environment. I say “minimal” because there is no mine in the world that does not affect the environment. Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan on Monday told this to reporters, referring to the recent start of the operation of Armenia’s Amulsar gold mine.
“At the same time, in all countries of the world—including in the two most powerful economies in the world, China and the US—the mining industry is at a very high level. The problem is the following: are we doing it in a way that, on the one hand, thousands of jobs are created as a result of this mining industry, hundreds of millions of dollars, billions of dollars in tax revenues are generated over the years, the GDP of the Republic of Armenia is growing year by year? And in parallel with this, if we can also make sure that its impact on the environment is minimal, then such mining, I think, is necessary,” Papoyan noted.
“We went that way because research has also shown that the impact on the environment is, in fact, very, very small; all the negative stories that were being told are not confirmed by research at least. Today, the mine is still being exploited, it already has production, it has exports, its impact on our economy is already there, 1,600 employees work there, additional up to 4,000 indirect jobs have been created as a result of the mine’s activities,” he added.
“The mine will pay up to $130 million in taxes to the [Armenian] state budget next year, if of course gold does not increase in price, because the trend is towards increasing prices. If gold increases in price, it will pay more taxes. It will have a 1.5–2 percent impact on [Armenia’s] GDP, it will significantly increase our exports and strengthen our economy. And with the money received, we will be able to protect the natural environment more effectively,” Papoyan said.
He added that there is no country in the world where there is no mining industry, including the most powerful countries known: European, the US, Canada, China.
“If we want to plant forests, if we want to preserve those forests, if we want to preserve and develop our water environment, use water efficiently, so that we can have great agricultural results using less water, we need money for that. When we take that much money and invest it in the education of our generations, on health, on planting forests, building reservoirs, releasing less water from [Armenia’s Lake] Sevan, on maintaining public health, then it will be good for our country and biodiversity, and for our generations,” said the Armenian economy minister.
“We are not going to be an economically weak country, we are going to be an economically strong country where the GDP per capita will exceed $10,000 this year. But it should exceed $15-20,000 in the near future, and this should also be conditioned by this,” he added, in particular.
Papoyan assured that the operation of the Amulsar gold mine will be in accordance with international standards.