Description:
The Caucasus region is important in terms of heavy industry. Being rich with natural mineral resources, extraction industry is playing an important role in the overall economic development. However, concerns related to unsustainable mining practices increasingly worries the public. Within the Southern Caucasus, Armenia displays the greatest number of mine sites and identified mineral deposits. Within Armenia, the mining industry is concentrated in two regions, Lori in the North, neighbouring Georgia, and Syunik in the South, next to Azerbaijan and Iran, with significant numbers of historic mining sites and ongoing operations. Many processing industrial complexes - such as Rustavi and Kutaisi in Georgia are closed, but a number of them, such as Alaverdi in Armenia are boosting the production.