YEREVAN – The Armenian government has approved $150 million in loan guarantees for a U.S.-Canadian company to help revive operations at the Amulsar gold mine. However, operations were disrupted when environmental protesters blocked all access roads to Amulsar following the Velvet Revolution of April-May 2018. Protesters argued that the mining project would cause significant environmental damage. Headquartered in Canada, Lydian hopes to commence gold mining operations at Amulsar in the fourth quarter of this year. The Amulsar gold deposit is the second-largest pure gold deposit in Armenia, containing approximately 31 million tons of ore and 40 tons of pure gold.