KAPAN RESIDENTS AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS CONCERNED OVER OPEN EXPLOITATION OF METAL MINE
2011-01-17 Tert.am
Residents of the town of Kapan in Syunik region, and a group of environmentalists have voiced concerns over the environmental and healthcare challenges posed by Deno Gold Mining company's plans to exploit the town's multi-metal mine in an open manner.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Clip On Snow And Ice Cleats
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, President of Ecolur NGO Inga Zarafyan said a study conducted by the National Academy's Ecosphere Center had revealed extremely high quantities of metal in certain areas of Syunik region. She said the metal concentration in water, soil and food in those areas proved to exceed the permitted limits.
Zarafyan added that relevant government bodies look uninterested in the problem. She stressed the importance of the Healthcare Ministry's organizing free medical examinations in the towns of Kapan and Kajaran.
"Some children there have all their teeth turned black," she said.
Environmentalists warn that heavy metals do not get neutralized in environment. They accumulate in soil in the course of time, causing serious diseases in humans.
President of Bird Lovers NGO Silva Adamyan said their organization had received reports on plans to cut 50 trees in Kapan within project frameworks. Later, the mayor of the town announced officially that it is planned to cut 7000 trees.
"We are going to lose Zangezur. We'll soon have no resident in the area in the aftermath of operating the plant. We already possess data on sick children being born in Kajaran. Now all this is going to happen in Kapan. We are asking the government - is operating the mine its only area of concern?"
The environmentalists are planning to request the European Bank to suspend the funding of the project.
They will also warn the company's owner - Dandy Precious Metals, as well as the Canadian premier, of the disastrous impact of the project.
The activists said the cabinet has not yet issued a permit for the exploitation of the mine.
"We are trying to prevent the project from being implemented. Experience shows that discussions will enable people to reach an agreement," they said.
LOSING ZANGEZUR
Lragir.am
Dino Gold Mining is going to exploit a mine at one km distance from Kapan in an open way. For this, 50.000 trees will be cut.
According to the head of Ecolur NGO Inga Zarafyan, the open exploitation contains many risks for the health and lives of people. Besides, a research carried out in Kapan two years ago revealed that the level of pollution of water, ground and food in Kapan, exceeds the permissible point for several times.
Neither the Ministry of Nature Protection, nor the government and the Ministry of Health are worried in this connection. More, as a project, it has not even been presented to the Ministry of Nature Protection.
Coordinator of Ecological Alliance Silva Adamyan, dwelling on the issue, noted that it is incomprehensible where this process will lead the state functionaries and the government and until when these processes should continue in Zangezur. “We are losing Zangezur. Soon, we will have no population there, and those who rest there, will suffer from serious illnesses”, says Silva Adamyan.
Inga Zarafyan along with Ecological Alliance decided to write a letter to the investors of Dandy Precious Metals in Canada trying to present the situation, they are going to appeal to the European Bank /the Bank is going to allocate 50 million to the company/ trying to prevent the process.
Ecodar NGO Head Hrayr Savzyan said that fewer jobs will be crated if the mine is exploited in an open way than in a close way. “In 2007, when the decision to exploit Teghut mine was taken, we said it could become a bad precedent for tree cutting. Now we are witnessing it”, says Hrayr Savzyan noting that instead of declared 7 000, 50 000 trees will be cut.
ARMENIAN PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS PROTEST AGAINST POSSIBLE OPEN DEVELOPMENT OF GOLD DEPOSITS IN KAPAN
ArmInfo
Possible open-cast development of the gold mines located in Shahumyan and Banavan districts in the town of Kapan threatens with ecological and demographic disaster, Inga Zarafyan, Head of Ecolur NGO, told media on Monday.
The project of Deno Gold Mining, the subsidiary of Dundee Precious Metals, Canada, on the open-cast development of the given mines may be launched at the end of the current year. I. Zarafyan said that the territory of Kapan town will be exposed to explosions, dust and millions of tons of dumps containing toxic elements, as it is partially located above the mine. She said that Armenian National Academy Center for Environment and Noospheric Surveys says that the content of heavy metals in the soil, water and food in the Syunik region exceeds the admissible concentration limit by dozens of times. Implementation of the given project will aggravate the situation.
"The project's expediency from the point of view of job creation is beneath criticism. Ore reserves in the mines total nearly 12.4 million tons. The company recovers 430,000 tons of ore yearly. The mines can be developed for 25 years, whereas open-cast development will result in 3-4 million tons of recovered ore yearly. In fact, exploitation term will be reduced to 4-5 years," she said.
"What will be with those jobs in 5 years? The government and Deno Gold Mining will settle social problems of several hundreds of families for a short period of time but the damage caused to environment, health and reproduction functions of the local population will be irrecoverable," Inga Zarafyan said.
For her part, Coordinator of the Public Ecological Union Silva Adamyan said that jointly with Ecolur, they are going to address a letter to Dundee Precious Metals Company to inform about the situation in Kapan. For this purpose, the given organizations have applied to the EBRD to prevent investment in the project. The bank is expected to invest in it nearly 50 million dollars.
AGAINST MINING: ENVIRONMENTALISTS WORRY OVER INTENTIONS OF KAPAN PROJECT
Gayane Mkrtchyan, ArmeniaNow
Armenian environmentalists are concerned that Dino Gold Mining Company which is the owner of Shahumyan polymetallic mine in Kapan, Syunik province, plans to start the open exploitation of the mine till the end of the year.
Until now, the company’s license has been for “closed” mining, a more expensive method, but one that reduces environmental risks.
Area residents worry, however, that the company will take to the more expedient means of using surface explosives, releasing harmful particles.
“In case of open exploitation, dust full of heavy metals, will flow to Kapan,” says Head of EcoLur NGO Inga Zarafyan.
Yet in 2009, the Center for Ecological-Noosphere Studies at the RA National Academy of Sciences revealed that the amount of heavy metals in water, soil and food in some regions of Syunik province (where Kapan is located) is several times more than the acceptable norm.
Environmentalists say that heavy metals do not neutralize in the environment: they are accumulated in the earth and in human bodies, sometimes leading to ailments.
If the mine should perform “open” operations, 50,000 fruit-trees – which were purchased by the mining company – would logged.
The Government of Armenia has not allowed open exploitation of the mine yet.
Silva Adamyan, Head of the Ecological NGOs Alliance, says that they try to prevent the implementation of the project.
“It turns out that usually all agreements are achieved at discussions,” she says.
Zarafyan explains that as a rule, a decision is made with the following formation – “to define the area as one of supreme public interest.” This argument is typically employed when a private company intends to enlarge its own profit at the expense of public and national property – gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, silver, iron, and finally, uranium.
Environmentalists are planning to appeal to the European Bank which will finance program of the mine exploitation, asking it to suspend the financing. They will also turn to the management of the owner of Dino Gold Mining Company - Dundee Precious Metals Inc. (Canada) - and the prime minister of Canada, voicing their concerns.
http://ecolur.org/en/news/2011-01-17/1917/
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