Amulsar mine set to relaunch by year-end, says finance minister

Armenia’s Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan has announced that the Amulsar gold mine is expected to resume operations by the end of the year.

 

“If Amulsar starts operating this year, our estimates suggest it could contribute around 0.5 percentage points to GDP growth,” Hovhannisyan told a press briefing on Friday.

 

He emphasized that while the economic effect will be relatively limited, it could still play a role in bolstering growth. According to the minister, Armenia’s economy is on track to return to its potential growth rate, which the government currently estimates at between 5 and 5.5 percent annually.

Amulsar, a long-disputed gold mining project, has been a focal point of environmental concerns and activism in Armenia. Amnesty International recently highlighted these issues in its annual report.

 

"The Amulsar gold mine was given permission to resume operations in January without fully addressing the environmental concerns around water and land pollution, which had led to protests in previous years. Environmental defenders faced lawsuits intended to silence them and were targeted by media smear campaigns. These included allegations that their activism threatened national security. The attacks followed their December 2023 joint statement raising concerns about the environmental impacts of the controversial Amulsar mining project," reads the report.