Amulsar Gold Mine Exploiter Denies Health Insurance to Residents of Nearby Village

On March 12, during the Republican Party’s parliamentary election campaign, residents of Gndevaz village in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor province met prime minister Karen Karapetyan on his way to Jermuk and demanded a meeting with the government officials who have given their approval to the exploitation of a gold mine in Amulsar, a mountain near Jermuk, and the construction of a cyanide plant only a kilometer away from Gndzevaz. The meeting which took place on April 2, however, left the villagers unsatisfied since it was being “ruled over” by Hayk Aloyan, managing director of Lydian Armenia – the company that wants to exploit the mine – and John Fung, an expert invited from South Africa and the gold mine’s future head metallurgist. The actual government representatives the villagers wanted to speak to, meanwhile, were seated in the first row and rarely got the chance to talk.