"Open Letter To the Yerevan Office of the World Bank: No More New Mines in Armenia, including the Amulsar gold mine", 30 June 2016

...The World Bank has not only overtly supported the disastrous Amulsar mining project near Jermuk health resort, but has directly defended the equity shareholder rights of its member IFC in the offshore-registered Lydian International company to whom this mine is commissioned to...There is more than ample professional research in Armenia that mining has negative impact on people’s health, the environment...[W]e have 23 open or semi-open tailing dumps, more than 800 million tons of mining waste full of heavy metals and hazardous substances...The communities near these mines suffer from lethal illnesses, they do not have any opportunity to pursue other economic activities, for example, agriculture, they are deprived of their lands, their properties are worthless. Our position is clear – no more new mines in this country, including the Amulsar gold mine; all the existing ones need to be inspected and some of them need to be closed.