Teghut mine

Teghut Mine

Open-pit mining at Teghut (summer 2014)
Location
Teghut Mine Location in Armenia
Location	Teghut
Province	Lori
Country	Armenia
Coordinates	41°05′17″N 44°50′47″E
Production
Products	Copper, molybdenum
Production	1.6 million tons of copper 100,000 tons of molybdenum
Type	Open pit
History
Opened	2014 (2014)
Active	2014 - Feb 2018
Closed	2018 (suspended)
Owner
Company	Vallex Group (via Armenian Copper Programme)
Website	www.teghout.am
Year of acquisition	2001

Teghut Mine is a closed copper and molybdenum open-pit mine in Armenia's northern province of Lori in the village of Teghut with deposits valued at US$15.5 billion (in 2010). In December 2014, Vallex Group launched production operations at the mine, which is a US$380 million project. In February 2018 Vallex Group published a statement announcing suspension of all operations and laying off nearly all staff.

The mine was expected become comparable in size to the Kajaran Mine in southern Armenia.

Available deposits and value

The Teghut forest lies atop ore deposits containing an estimated 1.6 million tons of copper and about 100,000 tons of molybdenum. In 2010, with the price of copper at US$7,500 per ton and molybdenum at US$35,000 per ton, this amounts to about US$12 billion in copper and US$3.5 billion in molybdenum. Therefore, the total value of the mine's deposits was about $15.5 billion in 2010.

Mine financing and ownership

Vallex, which is run and at least partly owned by Russian-Armenian businessman Valeri Mejlumyan, claims to have already invested almost $340 million in Teghut. It has borrowed the bulk of that money from VTB, a leading Russian bank.

In 2013, the company also attracted $62 million in funding from a Danish pension fund which was due to be partly or fully channeled into purchases of metallurgical equipment from another Danish company, FLSmidth. In 2017, the Danish state credit agency decided to withdraw export credit guarantees to mine operators, accusing its private owner of failing to comply with environmental standards.

Notable incidents, statements and events

Assessments before opening

Pre-project reports indicated that open-pit mining at Teghut will lead to the destruction of 357 hectares of rich forest, including 128,000 trees. Environmentalists claimed that ore crushing and enrichment will also pollute a local river and underground waters.

2014 - Statements by the mine operator

Vallex claimed to have created about 1,300 new jobs and pledged to build new schools and upgrade infrastructure in nearby villages.

The company said that it planned to manufacture $182 million worth of non-ferrous ore concentrates there in 2015.

2017 August - Mine operator acknowledges environmental pollution

At public hearings, Vallex Deputy Director General Sahak Karapetyan didn't reject the fact of environmental pollution and promised to find a solution.

2017 October - Funding withdrawal due to environmental issues

After a series of warnings, the Danish state agency EKF decided to withdraw export credit guarantees to mine operators, accusing its private owner of failing to comply with agreed environmental standards.

2017 December - Discontent of community residents

Community residents formally demanded that the Ministry of Nature Protection cancels the mine expansion project.

2018 January - Leak into river

By the end of January 2018 reports were published that the mine's tailings dam had cracks, and that unprocessed mine waste leaked into Shnogh River, making it become visibly polluted. However minister for nature protection maintains there measurements could not determine any river pollution.

2018 February - Vallex Group declared suspension of all operations

The mine operator issued a statement declaring it will suspend all operations and lay off all workers except for few responsible for preservation of existing infrastructure.

Gallery

• 2015
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  The Shnogh River, muddied by the mine, meets the Debed
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  A muddied Shnogh River

• 2014
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  View of the open-pit from past the southern border of the mine

• 2013
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  Stream next to main entrance with tailing dump in background
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  General view near administrative building
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  Main entrance
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  Main entrance security
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  Security building at main entrance
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  Ore processing facility under construction atop hill, behind which is the massive tailing dump
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  Open pit and eastern border of the mine property
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  Location of open pit mine
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  Location of open pit mine and waste rock storage
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  Waste rock storage area
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  Closeup of waste rock storage area
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  Closeup of upper rock storage area
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  Eastern boundary and explosives storage area
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  Closeup of open pit
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  Open pit
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  Open pit
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  Closeup of lower waste rock storage area
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  Super closeup of lower waste rock storage area
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  Raw ore receiving facility
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  Raw ore receiving facility
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  Building 1 of ore processing facility
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  Building 2 of ore processing facility
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  Building 3 of ore processing facility

• 2012
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  Destruction of the old-growth forest at Teghut in summer 2012
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  Mining trucks at work
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  Forest destruction in summer 2012
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  Main entrance and administrative buildings, with beginning of tailings dump on the lower right
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  Construction of tailings dump
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  Construction of massive tailings dump with Teghut village in the background
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  General view of ore processing facility (under construction) and forest
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  Closeup of main ore processing facility area
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  Construction of ore processing facility
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  Construction of ore processing facility
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  Closeup of raw ore receiving area
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  View north towards Chochkan village and Georgia

• 2008 (Deforestation)
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  Trees cut into logs
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  Logs for sale
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  Logs loaded onto a truck
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  Forest converted to logs
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  Administrative or workers' quarters

• 2008 (Location of waste rock storage area)
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• 2008 (Location of future tailings dump)
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  General view
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  Another general view
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  Horses grazing
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  Livestock grazing
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  Peach trees
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  Tree marked to be cut
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  Khachkar
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  Trees
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  Beehives
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  A cultural monument

• 2008 (administrative building)
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  Administrative building
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  Log storage
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  Heavy machinery
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  Cement trucks
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  Tree cutting machinery

Panoramas from September 2013

Teghut Valley and Mine. Visible are the location of the open pit mine and the ore processing facility under construction.

Western area: Teghut village and mine.

Eastern area: Teghut mine and forest

Panorama from main road a few kilometers up from the main entrance. The ore processing facility can be seen under construction on top of the hill, behind which is the tailing dump.

Panorama from main road a few kilometers up from the main entrance. The tailing dump is located behind the hill in the foreground.

Ore processing facility under construction

See also

• Mineral industry of Armenia

External links

• Teghout CJSC, official website of Vallex Mining subsidiary.
• Save Teghut Civic Initiative, an independent and voluntary network of free and concerned people from Armenia, Diaspora and various parts of the world who believe and fight for healthy and dignified human livelihood. The initiative was founded in 2007.
• Teghut: Bread of the Children, a 2009 documentary film (35 minutes) about the Teghut mine project
• Mining in Armenia, a 10-minute documentary, produced by Robert Davidian and Liana Hakobyan.
• Թեղուտ․ բնապահպանական, տնտեսական և իրավական կոլապս, (Teghut: Environmental, Economic and Legal Collapse), a 14-minute update by CivilNet (March 14, 2018) (in Armenian).
• Serj Tankian in defense of Teghut Forest (2012). Famous Armenian-American rock band vocalist Serj Tankian speaks out against mining in Armenia, specifically against mining at Teghut.