Armenia's Most Dangerous Tailings Dump in the Ararat Plain

The most dangerous tailings dump in Armenia is located in the Ararat Plain, adjacent to the fish farming economies of Armash and Ararat. According to the project, the dump's area is 135 hectares, but in reality, it spans 196 hectares and is filled with approximately 15 million cubic meters of tailings, rich in cyanide and various heavy and dangerous metals.

The dump was designed and constructed during the Soviet era and became operational in 1976. It is operated by the 'Ararat Gold Extraction' factory, which processes ore brought from the Sotk gold mine. The mine is owned by the Russian company 'Geopromining Gold,' situated in the eastern part of Armenia, on the watershed area of the Sevan mountain range, approximately 30 km east of Lake Sevan. The absolute altitudes of the mine range from 2150 to 2530 meters. The production platform (railway station, crushed ore open storage) is located 7 km away from the open-pit mine and 20 km from the city of Vardenis. The nearest settlement, Sotk village, is 13 km from the open-pit mine and 6 km from the production platform. The nearby water flow is the Sotk tributary of the Masrik River, which flows into Lake Sevan.

Gold has been sought in the Sotk area since ancient times, as evidenced by traces of ancient mining activities in both open and underground mines. Geological exploration work in the Sotk gold mine began in 1955, accompanied by the operation of the site. Until 2001, ore extraction was conducted using both open-pit and underground methods. Since 2001, underground mining operations have ceased, and only open-pit mining is conducted. Until 1976, ore enrichment was carried out at the Sotk experimental enrichment factory, and from 1976, at the Ararat gold extraction factory, located 3.5 km from Ararat city and 2.4 km from the factory's residential complex.

No one really knows or has studied the actual negative impacts that this mining site, the factory, and the tailings dump have on the natural environment and human health. Existing data mainly come from the operating company regarding atmospheric emissions from their activities and measures to mitigate their negative impact.

All documents state that no ecological problems will arise as a result of these emissions. Polluted waters exiting the Sotk mine site mix with various streams and flow into the Sotk tributary of the Masrik River. State bodies do not possess their own data on the qualitative and quantitative indicators of these waters, which ultimately reach Lake Sevan via the Masrik River. Only data from the 'Environmental Monitoring and Information Center' indicate that the quality of the Masrik River water before it flows into Lake Sevan is classified as class 4 (unsatisfactory) and class 5 (bad).

The tailings dump of the Ararat gold extraction factory significantly harms the natural environment, emitting 0.083 tons of sulfur anhydride, 80 tons of hydrogen cyanide, 17.5 tons of carbon monoxide, 1.28 tons of inorganic dust, and 8.04 tons of ore dust annually. Although no accidents have occurred at the tailings dump during its operation, several accidents have been recorded in the collector leading to the factory, which have resulted in those lands being excluded from further agricultural cultivation.

To maintain the stability of the tailings dump structure, monitoring devices are used, inspection oversight is performed, and reports are submitted. According to normative documents, a sanitary protection zone is established 300 meters from the tailings dump boundary. However, during operations, the adjacent area of the dump has currently been handed over as private property to individuals who have constructed ponds in that area for fish farming, which is prohibited. Remaining fish farming ponds are located more than 1000 meters from the tailings dump and are not part of the areas that could be flooded in case of an accident. The area of the tailings dump is characterized by a significant presence of underground waters, with levels ranging from 0 to 3 meters.

In 2015, 'Geopromining Gold' stated that it would operate with a circulating water system and would not discharge any overflow into water basins. The factory's atmospheric emissions project presents a series of data regarding the production capacity based on processing 1 million tons/year of ore. The project also addresses the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the company's atmospheric pollutants. The emissions contain 12 pollutants, including ore dust, carbon, and nitrogen oxides, acid vapors, and cyanide.

The annual quantity of atmospheric emissions is estimated at 47.9 tons, with an economic loss to the natural environment due to harmful atmospheric emissions estimated at 175.2 million AMD per year. The company has also performed dispersion calculations for atmospheric pollutants using the 'Raduga' computer program. Results confirmed that the concentrations of atmospheric pollutants comply with residential area norms. Notably, for the regulation of allowable emissions, the company primarily utilized Soviet standards from the 70s and 80s, alongside contemporary references only in the Russian language. However, this has not hindered the Ministry of Environment of Armenia from considering them modern and credible.

No government agency knows the reality of the pollution and other negative ecological consequences resulting from the factory and tailings dump's operations. All facts are based primarily on the data provided by the operating company, which cannot be considered an acceptable option.

As an alternative source for comparison, we have the results of soil sampling from playgrounds and publicly used surfaces from schools and kindergartens in Ararat city, conducted by the American University of Armenia and published in 2016. A total of 52 soil samples were taken, determining the concentrations of arsenic, copper, cadmium, mercury, and lead. While these findings cannot be deemed comprehensive or sufficient, they provide an approximate picture of the situation.

- Arsenic concentrations ranged from 7.35 to 23.94 mg/kg in the soil samples, with the average geometric value exceeding the Armenian soil standard by 6.5 times.

- Cadmium concentrations ranged from 0.10 to 0.82 mg/kg. Armenia lacks standards for this metal for comparison, but in several samples, cadmium concentrations exceeded international standards from countries like China and Sweden, which have the most stringent standards (0.3-0.4 mg/kg).

- Copper concentrations ranged from 11.15 to 103.40 mg/kg in soil samples. Armenia's soil standard for copper is 3 mg/kg, meaning copper levels were exceeded by an average of 14.7 times in all samples.

- Lead values ranged from 25.3 to 96.57 mg/kg in the samples, exceeding Armenia's soil standard of 32 mg/kg, indicating further violations.

- Mercury concentrations in Ararat soil samples ranged from 0.37 to 2.37 mg/kg. While these values do not exceed Armenia’s standards, they do exceed those from countries like China, Norway, and Sweden.

These occasional studies indicate that there are issues with heavy metal pollution in Ararat soil. Researchers stress the need for further studies in other areas while expanding the list of metals investigated, such as chromium, zinc, nickel, magnesium, manganese, cobalt, selenium, tellurium, bismuth, and more. Continuous monitoring is also recommended to examine heavy metal soil pollution caused by mining or other economic activities.

Based on available data, the impact of the Ararat tailings dump on groundwater and nearby fish farming operations has not been studied, and it remains unclear whether there are any threats to these water basins. It is essential to carry out water sampling and examine concentrations of cyanide, other chemical compounds, and heavy metals.