U.S. Ambassador to Armenia visits Amulsar mine 

ArmInfo. As part of her visit to Jermuk, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Kristina Kvien visited the  Amulsar mine, the U.S. Embassy in Armenia reports on its Facebook page. 

Ambassador Kvien traveled to Vayots Dzor to meet with local officials  and observe the security situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.  The Ambassador met with the Governor of Vayots Dzor, the EU  Monitoring Mission, and local military representatives, joined by  Armenian Ambassador to the U.S. Lilit Makunts. Ambassador Kvien  emphasized U.S. support for Armenia's sovereignty and security, as  well as lasting peace in the South Caucasus.

Ambassador Kvien traveled to Jermuk to learn about the challenges and  opportunities facing the city.  She met with the Mayor and Deputy  Mayor of Jermuk, and hosted a roundtable with business owners to  discuss the local economy and tourism sector. Ambassador Kvien was  impressed with the beautiful natural landscape and outdoor activities  that make Jermuk a popular tourist destination.

Ambassador Kvien, joined by the Mayor of Jermuk, visited Lydian's  Amulsar mining project to view their operations.  The Amulsar project  represents one of the biggest U.S. investments in Armenia and we are  proud that it is deploying western mining standards. The United  States supports Armenia's economic development and opportunities for  U.S. companies and investors to do business in a range of sectors.

Since the end of 2018, the Amulsar gold mine has been blocked by  environmental activists. The government was never able to orient  itself about the resumption of the construction of the mine and work  on it had to be suspended. In March 2022, the Minister of Economy of  Armenia Vagan Kerobyan noted that if nothing interferes, the work of  the Amulsar gold mine will be resumed, referring to the department's  program of events, which contains a provision on solving the Amulsar  problem. Previously, before the change of beneficiaries, Lydian  Armenia was a subsidiary of the British offshore Lydian  International, which placed shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Then the company went through the process of delisting. As a result  of the restructuring, the full stake in the company was transferred  to the newly created Canadian-American Lydian Canada Ventures, the  beneficiaries of which are the American company Orion Mine Finance  and the Canadian Osisko Gold Royalties. The total cost of the Amulsar  project is $370 million. The life of the deposit is 10 years and 4  months, while it is planned to produce an average of 200 thousand  ounces of gold annually. The field is the second largest in Armenia.

According to the company, the deposit contains about 73,733 kg of  gold with an average grade of 0.78 g per ton, as well as 294,367 tons  of silver with an average grade of 9.29 g per ton. It is located in  the south- east of the country, 13 km from the resort town of Jermuk,  in the interfluve of the Arpa and Vorotan rivers.