President: Sakdrisi mining should cease until court reaches verdict
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Every civilized country is obliged to take care of its cultural heritage, said Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili while commenting the controversy surrounding Sakdrisi Gold Mine.
Margvelashvili released a special statement that emphasized the cultural importance of the ancient site.
"The Sakdrisi Gold Mine is one of the ancient monuments of Georgia’s cultural heritage and we have to protect each sample that expresses our identity,” the President’s statement read.
"Proceedings on the Sakdrisi case are still in progress in court. Everyone must wait until the process has concluded and only afterwards should the court ruling be implemented. Large-scale mining activities at the site are unacceptable before that,” Margvelashvili said.
The President said he believed the state should have acted in accordance with Georgian laws when dealing with this issue. The state should have been transparent in its process of deciding to allow mining at the site by letting interested social groups participate in the decision-making process.
Sakdrisi Gold Mine has been one of the country’s main topics of discussion after the Government approved private gold mining company RMG Gold to resume mining at the controversial site one week ago.
Mining resumed last Saturday – one day after the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection and the National Agency of Cultural Heritage Protection approved RMG Gold’s request to resume mining at the site. Some experts believed Sakdrisi Gold Mine was one of the oldest gold mines in the world, dating back almost 5,000 years.
News of re-establishing mining at Sakdrisi Gold Mine was harshly protested by one part of society who said RMG Gold did not have the right to continue working at the site as Tbilisi City Court was still discussing the Ministry’s notion to revoke the mine’s status as a cultural heritage site.
President Giorgi Margvelashvili also met with these protesters today and personally listened to their arguments.
The Sakdrisi Gold Mine was discovered in the early 2000s and excavations began in 2006. It was initially given the status of cultural heritage site but this was revoked by the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection in 2013.
Establishing the historical importance of Sakdrisi Gold Mine in southern Georgia is in doubt after the Government approved RMG Gold to resume mining at the controversial site.
A court decision has annulled a Ministerial decision to suspend Sakdrisi Gold Mine’s status as a historical monument.
A court ruling has overturned a Ministerial decision to allow Russian-owned mining company RMG Gold to continue mining at the Sakdrisi Gold Mine in southern Georgia.
Major issues surrounding the Sakdrisi gold mine will be investigated by international experts in a bid to resolve the vast problems surrounding the mine.
German and Swiss experts are in southern Georgia to assess the controversial mining issue at the Sakdrisi gold mine.
Ministry of Culture officials were forbidden to enter ancient Sakdrisi-Kachaghiani territory, where a prehistoric gold mine is located. Sakdrisi Gold Mine is the oldest gold mine in the world, dating back almost 5,000 years.
The agreement between the strikers and the company’s administration was achieved after the Government appointed a mediator who assisted the parties to negotiate.
The employees of the Sakdrisi Gold Mine in southern Georgia demanding reestablishing mining at the controversial site said if RMG Gold, a company carrying out the mining operation stopped working at the site, jobs would dry up and they would be unemployed again.
Leaving 3,000 families without a job in the current situation in Georgia is a very big irresponsibility, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili today said while commenting the developments around the controversial Sakdrisi Gold Mine.
We must define our priorities considering the country's interests and only then make a decision, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili noted while commenting on the controversial Sakdrisi Gold Mine issue today.
A modern archaeological muhouse will be built in Bolnisi to house the ancient artifacts discovered in Sakdrisi Gold Mine, while RMG Gold will be given a new license to continue its mining activities in Sakdrisi.
Georgian Agriculture and Environment Minister Levan Davitashvili has stated today that mining company RMG Gold and Copper is polluting local rivers in Bolnisi region in east Georgia.