Georgy Faivush: Information about the carnation in the Red Book  growing on the territory of the mine "Amulsar" is not true

ArmInfo. The information that purple cloves are found on the territory of the mine "Amulsar" is true, however, these carnations are not listed in the Red Book. The  doctor of biological sciences, the academician of the Russian Academy  of Natural Sciences, the co-author of the "Red Book of Armenia"  Georgy Fayvush stated this in a conversation with the correspondent  of ArmInfo.

The scientist noticed that purple cloves, besides Amulsar, are also  found in Tavush, Syunik and other regions of Armenia. "I would like  to note that in this case it was a blue carnation, which is really a  plant included in the Red Book." To determine whether this plant is  on the territory of the Amulsar mine, the Ministry of Nature  Protection of Armenia created a professional working group.   conducted a study and found that there is no such plant on the  territory of the mine, so that information on the fact that this  species of carnation, which is included in the Red Book, grows on the  territory of the mine and that something threatens it, does not  correspond "says Faivush.

The scientist also noted: "As for the butterfly Apollo, although it  is noted, but the place of the mine is not its habitat, it is not  conducive to dampness, and the absence of a place for laying,"  Faivush said.

It should be reminded that earlier the inspection body for the  protection of nature and subsoil in connection with the emergence of  new environmental factors demanded from Lidian Armenia to stop all  work on the development of the Amulsar deposit before a new  examination and decision on the basis of this examination. The basis  for such a decision was the presentation by the ecologist Anoush  Nersisyan of the facts that allegedly testify to the presence in the  Red Book of butterflies of Apollo and blue carnations in the region  of Amulsar. Simultaneously, based on the submitted data, the  Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia instituted criminal  proceedings on the fact of illegal mine workings. Note that the  absence of blue carnations on the territory of the mine was also  reported by the Minister of Nature Protection. In this regard, the  Minister noted that the inspection acted within its authority. He  recalled that Lidian Armenia itself, which is developing the Amulsar  deposit, repeatedly carried out its studies to assess the impact on  the environment. The company employs a group of experts of 5-6  people, whose professionalism can not be doubted.  Erik Grigoryan  also reported that at present a draft law on environmental impact  assessment has been developed and submitted to the government of the  republic, according to which mining companies at their own expense,  at the request of the state, undertake to invite international  experts to assess the impact of a program on the environment.

He also said that, at the invitation of the Armenian government on  September 17, another group of international experts will arrive in  Armenia, which will assess the impact of a number of programs on  water resources. At the same time, the Minister stated that it is not  necessary to talk about the impact of Amulsar on the water resources  of Vayots Dzor region of Armenia at present, since the mine is not  yet in operation.

Recall that Lydian Armenia is a subsidiary of the British Lydian  International, whose shareholders are large international  institutional investors. The Amulsar project is the largest  industrial project in Armenia for the development of the Amulsar gold  deposit at a total cost of $ 370 million. In August 2016, a project  was launched that assumes the construction and development of the  field.  Preliminary work has been carried out since 2006. The life of  the Amulsar deposit will be 10 years and 4 months, an annual average  of 200,000 ounces of gold (about 10 million tons of ore) is planned.  Within the framework of the Amulsar program, 1,300 jobs will be  created in the construction process (construction works will last  about 2 years) and 650-700 jobs throughout the entire operation of  the field. The company's shares are quoted on the Toronto Stock  Exchange.  Amulsar deposit is the second largest in Armenia