In late February, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that chances are high that Amulsar mine will be operational. 

“[…] I considered the security component very important, saying that we are in a war, and when a war starts, the tourist flow to our country will not continue, and then we may have currency-related issues. And in that situation it is the mining industry that ensures foreign currency flow into the country,” Pashinyan said. 

This is not the first time that the Prime Minister has spoken about the importance of the operations of the Amulsar mine. In early February he highlighted the need to attract investments in the country. 

The renewed conversations about the possible exploitations of the Amulsar mines are a result of post-war economic difficulties. 

After the defeat in the Second Karabakh war, Armenia lost one of its most important economic assets: at least half of the Sotk mine came under the control of Azerbaijan. Ironically, losing half of this mine may make Armenia even more dependent on mining. 

Below we present the visual data story about the role of the Sotk mine in the Armenian economy. 

Karine Ghazaryan

This article was created as part of the ForSet Fellowship educational program.