HY RU EN
Asset 3

Loading

End of content No more pages to load

Your search did not match any articles

Ararat Davtyan

Ashot Boghossian: “Exploitation of Marjan Deposit Will Make Arevis a Viable Community”

Global Gold, a mining company, operates in Canada, Chile and Armenia. In Armenia the company is exploiting the Tukhmanuk gold deposit. It also exploring the Getik deposit with the expectation of finding uranium there.  As for the Marjan poly-metallic (gold, silver and copper) deposit located in Syunik Marz, which is several kilometers away from Arevis, the first stage of exploration work has ended and a pilot exploitation project has already begun.

Marieta Nikolyan, a resident of Arevis, wondered, “Our village seems to be isolated from the world. But its nature is very good. Will the exploitation of the deposit cause damage to the environment?”

“Indeed, I am glad to see that this resident is interested in the environment’s protection. It is very good. Believe me, your concern will help us,” said Ashot Boghossian, the Director of the Armenian Branch of Global Gold. He noted that besides abiding by environmental norms and regulations of Armenia, Global Gold is a member of two international bodies who demand much stricter environmental standards. “The environmental obligation is the most important for us. It is an obligation, which will never end,” Boghossian stressed.

“Let us be frank. When a human being deals with nature and exploits the land’s surface, that person has already violated the balance of nature. But the whole matter is to cause less damage and to compensate more. Our company will invest $30-32 million just at Marjan,” said Henry Mkrtchyan, the Chief Geologist of Global Gold’s Armenian branch. “We expect to have two big enterprises here that will create 500-600 jobs. And based on today’s pilot project we foresee putting into operation a small processing plant that will allow us to provide 100-110 people with jobs.”

Director Ashot Boghossyan said that there is also a possibility of exploiting an open pit in the northern area of Marjan. “This is good news, since the impact on the environment will be less. We will give a more definite answer next year regarding how much open pit and underground mine we will exploit at which part.” Regarding the latter, as compared to other deposits, the environmental problems are few in Marjan. He also expressed readiness to take residents of the village to the Tukhmanuk deposit in order to familiarize them with their company’s procedures at the site and to see for themselves how environmental norms are being followed.

“Global Gold has decided to construct the plant during the next 2.5-3 years, not far from the village, in order to store the ore near the plant and thus work in the winter as well. The company will be producing concentrate and it seems that there are no sufficient reserves for the construction of smelter. It is just an economic calculation. If the deposit’s reserves are sufficient, of course, there will be also a smelter,” said Boghossyan stressing that, in any event, the deposit will last 40-50 years.

“Thus, it is very important that local children graduate from relevant departments and return to the village to work in our company,” the company’s Director noted.

Answering questions of residents of the village, he also noted that the lowest salary of an unskilled worker is 120,00AMD.

“We consider ourselves to be a member of this community and we will try together with you to solve the existing problems. We will need water, telephone communication, normal roads and transport. Television is a secondary issue, but we will have it as well. In any case, we will not pin our hopes on one channel, as it is now,” Boghossian promised. “To tell the truth, there is nothing here. Shops will be opened in communities, services will be provided. We will try to buy all the services from you. To cut it short, we will have a normal, viable community.”

Gevorg Aloyan, head of the Technical Expertise Department of the Concession Agency of the Economy Ministry, assured the audience that the exploitation of Marjan deposit will not create dangerous problems from an environmental point of view. According to him, due to existing technologies, the factory’s operation will not cause damage to the environment.

“Knowing Mr. Boghossian as a responsible and disciplined person who works according to international standards, we can state that everything will be okay. Tukhmanuk’s exploitation is a good evidence of it. Thus, we can only welcome these huge investments. We expect that the life in the community will become rather active,” Aloyan noted.

 Sassoun Sahakyan, head of Avetis village administration, voiced the same hopeful expectation in his short speech.

Write a comment

If you found a typo you can notify us by selecting the text area and pressing CTRL+Enter