Saturday, May 21 2016 06:11

Prime Minister of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan received on May 21 Howard Stevenson, President and CEO of Lydian International British company, which implements the Amulsar project. As the press-service of the government informs the prime minister mentioned the importance of the implementation of such a large foreign investment program in the country, which will lead to development of mining industry and economic growth. According to him the mining sector is under spotlight of the government. At the same time Abrahamyan mentioned that the government intends to provide necessary assistance to the enterprises of the field taking into consideration drop of prices on the international market. 

Howard Stevenson in his turn informed that the package of financing of the Amulsar project has already been approved and it is planned to launch the construction in the upcoming months. The CEO of Lydian International stated that the planned 400 mln USD investment demonstrates confidence in the country and the conducted economic policy. He also expressed gratitude to the prime minister for consistent assistance.  

The interlocutors discussed a number of issues related to the activities for implementation of the program and further steps as well as stressed the importance of conducting constant work aimed at ecological management. 

To note, Lydian International Limited is the sole shareholder of Geoteam CJSC.  The latter was incorporated in 2005 and after an extensive campaign of geological exploration in Armenia discovered what is now its flagship project - the Amulsar mountain. Since 2006, the investment in exploration and other operations in Amulsar has amounted to nearly 70 million USD. Amulsar is a new gold discovery, the first for over 20 years in Armenia. Geoteam CJSC is carrying out geological exploration in the Amulsar area of RA Vayots Dzor Marz, under a Prospecting License, granted in 2006 by RA Ministry of Nature Protection. The key shareholders of the Lydian are IFC, EBRD and Newmont Mining Corporation.

 The feasibility study demonstrates Amulsar as a compelling opportunity for a large scale, low cost operation utilizing open pit mining and conventional heap leach processing.

Highlights include:  total recoverable gold of 2.1 million ounces over a 10.4 year mine life; gold production averaging over 200,000 ounces per year; initial capital costs of $426 million; low all-in sustaining costs of $701 per ounce of gold; 84% gold recoveries and 2.8:1 strip ratio; accelerated after tax-cash flows to support early payback and project financing. The Amulsar project envisages creation of 1,500 jobs in the course of construction and 700 jobs throughout the entire operation of the mine within the next 10 years.