MFA_Report_on_the_occupied_territories_March_2016_1

270 tons 460 ). Extracted unprocessed ore is
transported for processing to Armenia by rail
at a crushing and screening plant and then to
Ararat Gold Processing Plant. The company
exports 99 percent of Armenia’s total gold
exports. 461 In 2013, the company was ranked
as the number one taxpayer (7.261 billion
AMD) in Armenia. Since 2007, GeoProMining
has invested some $260 million into GPM
Gold and Agarak Copper-Molybdenum Mine
Complex. 462 The money was used to upgrade
the extraction technology at the Ararat plant,
which was not designed to process the
sulphide ores remaining at the Soyudlu deposit. As of April 2014, GPM Gold has been operating
a new Albion gold extraction technology from Xstrata Technology (Australia) and supported by
Core Process Engineering (Australia) 463 at the Ararat facility, which was designed to significantly
increase the extraction coefficient for sulphide-heavy ores from Soyudlu mine. 464 Armenia
exported a record 3.6 tons of gold dust in 2014 with a customs value of $82 million. The exports
are in the form of doré (a semi-pure alloy of gold and silver usually created at the site of a mine).
The alloy contains more than 70 percent gold. After further refinement, the gold is sold on the
London stock exchange. Armenia’s gold is exported to Canada. Eight kilograms of exports in
2014 went to Switzerland. To note, Canada first became interested in the region’s gold deposits
in 1997 when First Dynasty Mines, a Canadian company, purchased shares in the Ararat Gold
Processing Plant. The plant was transformed into the Ararat Gold Recovery Company. Indian
billionaire Anil Agarwal bought the company in 2002 and sold it to GPM Gold in 2007. 465 A 2012
estimate predicted that with such an extraction rate, the Soyudlu reserve will be exhausted in
15 years. 466 In April 2012, Bako Sahakyan met the
delegation of the Estet Jewellery House led
by its head and the president of the Armenian
Jewellers Association Gagik Gevorkyan. At the
meeting, issues related to the development of
jewellery industry in the occupied territories
were discussed. After the meeting Sahakyan
and the delegation attended the ceremony of
opening of a jewellery school in Khankandi.
Sahakyan called the opening of the school
Ore extraction at Soyudlu gold mine in the occupied Kalbajar district
│Photo from www.geopromining.com
Artsakh and its entrance into the international level”. 467
Exploitation of Soyudlu gold mine in the occupied Kalbajar district
│Photo from www.geopromining.com
a symbol of successful cooperation with
the Estet Jewellery House, which, in his
words,“would have a substantial impact on
the development of the jewellery industry in
460
See “Armenia’s Gold Exports on the Rise but Revenues Drop”, Hetq.am, 31 March 2015, .
461
Ibid.
462
See “GeoProMining Group gains ground as investment in Armenia grows”, Globalgoldcorp.com, June 2011, .
463
Ibid.
464
See “Sotq Gold Mine to Be Exhausted In 15 Years?”, Hetq.am, 07 August 2012, ;
“GPM Gold: Zod mine and the Ararat gold extraction plant”, GeoProMining, .
465
See “Armenia’s Gold Exports on the Rise but Revenues Drop”, Hetq.am, 31 March 2015, .
466
See “Sotq Gold Mine to Be Exhausted In 15 Years?”, op. cit.
467
See “On 22 April Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan met delegation of the ‘Estet’ Jewelry House led by head of the
organization, president of the Armenian Jewelers Association Gagik Gevorkyan”, Artsakhtert.com, 22 April 2012, .
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