Armenia needs good technologies and expertise in recovering metals from mining industry waste, Mr Tommi Laitinen, CEO of Amcom Europe, told Armenian News – NEWS.am on Friday.  

Amcom Europe, Finland-based subsidiary of US-based Amcom LLC, has been active for around 20 years, mainly treating by-products of steel casting.

“We have in our portfolio similar technologies for non-ferrous metals, which are mined in Armenia. Non-ferrous metals have not been our priority, but we are experienced enough and looking for projects to start up, probably in partnership with local companies”, Laitinen said.

This would be a win-win situation for business and environment, he added.

None of mine tailings in Armenia has ever been revisited to extract metals, discarded with imperfect mining technologies of previous generations. This gives relatively high concentration of metals in residue, and allows for financially sustainable extraction. New legislation of Armenia (Mining code, effective 2012) recognized that, classifying tailings as secondary (man-made) mines, as opposed to natural ones.

For example, Kadjaran copper molybdenum mine, the largest in the country, houses 300 mln tonnes of dumps, which contain not only non-captured copper and molybdenum, but also other valuable metals (among these rhenium selenium, and tellurium). Tailings grow annually by 18-20 mln t. 

 

“We provide technologies for mines, but also all the way down the industry chain. This makes clean technologies a must for a country like Armenia, with active mining industry”, Laitinen said