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CYANIC PLANT IN MEGHRADZOR: VILLAGERS PROTESTING, WHILE DIRECTOR OF MINING COMPANY READY TO BUILD IT IN ANOTHER AREA
ARMINFO
Friday, January 25, 17:31
Residents of the village of Meghradzor organized a picket in front
of the president's residence in Yerevan on Jan 25. The villagers are
protesting against construction of a cyanic plant in Meghradzor.
Meghradzor LLC backs the construction.
A villager Samvel Lazarian says cyanic plant is dangerous for
the environment and they plan to build it in the resort zone
Tsakhkadzor-Meghradzor-Hankavan. He says that the public opinion is
not taken into consideration when drafting the project.
"They provide us with false data saying that allegedly the plant's
operation will not affect environment. However, cyanides leaked in
Meghradzor will occur directly in the River of Marmarik endangering
the nearby settlements and the Ararat region," Lazarian says. His
fellow villager Karen Hovannisyan says that over 500 people protest
against construction of the plant.
The signatures of the picketers were submitted to the president's
staff and a statement saying that the project does not reckon with
the fact that the area is earthquake-prone. The project lacks data
on the radioactive elements and a map of the uranium and thorium. In
addition, it does not reckon with possible pollution of soil, water
and air in case of emergencies. The project assesses the damage on a
formula, which lacks a coefficient of a resort area when the damage
assessment increases several dozens of times.
For his part, Director of Meghradzor Gold LLC Vardan Markaryan called
the given accusations groundless. Talking to ArmInfo he said that
the production capacity of the plant will total 600 tons monthly.
"The project bears no environmental risks due to closed cycle
production," he said. "A group of young people is behind the scandal.
They had been stealing gold-bearing ore for 4-5 years when the mine
was frozen. Most of the signatures gathered against construction
of the plant are forged. However, I am ready to build the plant in
another area, where the Government will point at," the director of
the company said.
Markaryan said that the gold mine was officially developed yet in the
Soviet Armenia, since 1986. The reserves are estimated at 300.000 tons
with some 3500 tons of gold content. Earlier, it was on the balance
of GeoProMining Company, but was later frozen as unpromising. In Nov
2010 Meghradzor Gold undertook development of the mine. A total of
200 jobs have been created at the plant, he said, with 116 residents
of Meghradzor working on the mine. He said that the company pays 30
million drams to the Meghradoz budget annually. In addition, since
2010 the company has paid 500 million drams to the state budget.
From: A. Papazian
ARMINFO
Friday, January 25, 17:31
Residents of the village of Meghradzor organized a picket in front
of the president's residence in Yerevan on Jan 25. The villagers are
protesting against construction of a cyanic plant in Meghradzor.
Meghradzor LLC backs the construction.
A villager Samvel Lazarian says cyanic plant is dangerous for
the environment and they plan to build it in the resort zone
Tsakhkadzor-Meghradzor-Hankavan. He says that the public opinion is
not taken into consideration when drafting the project.
"They provide us with false data saying that allegedly the plant's
operation will not affect environment. However, cyanides leaked in
Meghradzor will occur directly in the River of Marmarik endangering
the nearby settlements and the Ararat region," Lazarian says. His
fellow villager Karen Hovannisyan says that over 500 people protest
against construction of the plant.
The signatures of the picketers were submitted to the president's
staff and a statement saying that the project does not reckon with
the fact that the area is earthquake-prone. The project lacks data
on the radioactive elements and a map of the uranium and thorium. In
addition, it does not reckon with possible pollution of soil, water
and air in case of emergencies. The project assesses the damage on a
formula, which lacks a coefficient of a resort area when the damage
assessment increases several dozens of times.
For his part, Director of Meghradzor Gold LLC Vardan Markaryan called
the given accusations groundless. Talking to ArmInfo he said that
the production capacity of the plant will total 600 tons monthly.
"The project bears no environmental risks due to closed cycle
production," he said. "A group of young people is behind the scandal.
They had been stealing gold-bearing ore for 4-5 years when the mine
was frozen. Most of the signatures gathered against construction
of the plant are forged. However, I am ready to build the plant in
another area, where the Government will point at," the director of
the company said.
Markaryan said that the gold mine was officially developed yet in the
Soviet Armenia, since 1986. The reserves are estimated at 300.000 tons
with some 3500 tons of gold content. Earlier, it was on the balance
of GeoProMining Company, but was later frozen as unpromising. In Nov
2010 Meghradzor Gold undertook development of the mine. A total of
200 jobs have been created at the plant, he said, with 116 residents
of Meghradzor working on the mine. He said that the company pays 30
million drams to the Meghradoz budget annually. In addition, since
2010 the company has paid 500 million drams to the state budget.
From: A. Papazian