Senior Official is in Confusion: Mikael Melkumyan

Mikael Melkumyan, a member of the Armenian National Assembly, wrote on his Facebook page: "A senior official is in confusion by linking the operation of the copper smelter with the unblocking. Today, I listened to the speech of a senior official of the country at a rally in one of the regions of the republic, stating that there are large reserves of copper ore in the Republic of Armenia and we need a copper smelter.

I have been talking about the necessity of this for more than 10 years, including during his time as a member of parliament and prime minister. He links the opening of the copper smelter to the railway. Let me say that it is not mandatory, because, as always, no professional calculation was provided by him. For example, how much copper concentrate and how much pure copper can be produced in our country.

I will provide the exact figures. In the last year, approximately 45 million tons of metallic ore were extracted in the republic, from which we receive about 420 thousand tons of copper concentrate and 10 thousand tons of molybdenum concentrate. From that 420 thousand tons of copper concentrate, only 100 thousand tons of pure copper can be obtained.

As for sulfuric acid, sulfuric gases are formed during the smelting of copper concentrate, which can be extracted to obtain sulfuric acid. The volume of sulfuric acid obtained from the calculation of 100 thousand tons of copper is relatively small. From that, gypsum and other materials can be derived, and gypsum can be turned into drywall and so on. And copper can be transported from Alaverdi to the "Geghama" factory in Gavar or the cable factory in Yerevan not only by railway, or, if desired, a railway can be built within Armenia.

Again, I have been speaking about this issue for years, and I also have a published extensive article. To justify the construction of a copper smelter solely by unblocking means, to put it mildly, indicates a lack of deep understanding of the essence of the matter. These are yet another instance of unprofessional government claims.

To better understand the essence of the problem, I am also posting my article co-authored with PhD in Economics A. Arakelyan from the 2017 issues 7-8 of the magazine "Finance and Economy" titled "The Construction of a New Copper Smelter in Armenia is Imperative." I repeat, this was in 2017. Now it is 2021. Judge for yourself."