Armenian environmental NGOs cannot ignore mining companies if they want to make their message through, told the US Ambassador to Armenia, John Heffern, at the Conference on responsible mining, which started in Yerevan on March 25.

«It's important for civil society to go to events and to deal with mining companies. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to make their message heard. So I hope they come, I hope they listen, and I hope they talk», Heffern told.

He added that there are hundreds of active mines in the US, and one of the invited American speakers will deliver a presentation at the conference on regulation issues, in order to make the mining business advantageous for stakeholder communities and population at large as well as for business.