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Modern Mining

Mining and the Environmental Impact Thereof

Any human activity implies impact. Be it tourism, urban development or any other area. It may be surprising for many but the largest impact on biodiversity and water is not caused by mining, but by agriculture. 7 million hectares of forests is cut annually for agricultural purposes. Agriculture is responsible for 70% of the consumption of freshwater, most of it inefficient. So, any area has an impact. It all depends on what actions are taken to mitigate or prevent the impacts. 

Modern Mining

Previously mining was one of the poorly managed industries in the world and had received a lot of criticism for its impact on the environment. And that is why in the last 15-20 years the banks and institutions that finance mining projects have come up with a number of standards and regulations that allow for efficient management of risks and mitigation of impacts. Lydian Armenia has developed and committed to implement the Amulsar Project in compliance with those standards.

There will be no change in the quality of local water resources, soil, air and other receptors in case of a proper mine management. And of course, impact on people’s health is excluded. Modern mines have no impact on people’s health, otherwise, there would be no mining in developed countries like Norway, Canada and other countries. When we speak about acceptable impacts or mitigation measures, we do not mean people’s health as for Lydian Armenia there is no “acceptable” limits. We speak about biodiversity impact, etc. For instance, we have a Red Book species, Potentilla Porphyrantha plant on Amulsar growing on the open pit area. So we had to translocate and preserve 21% of these plants in the Sevan Botanical Garden and make a set-aside area where rest of the species were growing. Or 2-3 bears use this area. The mine will take a large part of the natural habitat of these and some other species. And to mitigate and offset these impacts Lydian Armenia plans to invest USD 5,7 mln to create a Jermuk National Park to preserve species alike in this area.  

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