The Armenian government has launched an inspection of a Syunik Province gold and metal mine following a Hetq article this June that the mine, according to area residents, is an open-pit operation and not the subsurface operation the permit calls for.

The Kapan Mining and Processing Company first denied that surface mining was taking place at the Shahumyan gold-polymetallic mine, the second largest gold mine in Armenia, is located near the town of Kapan, in the country’s southern Syunik Province.

The company, in response to the Hetq article, then claimed it had to remove tons of rubble from the surface of the mine to prevent the collapse of subsurface mining arteries.

The company says the work up top was carried out in coordination with state agencies.