VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Construction of Lydian International’s 100%-owned Amulsar project, in Armenia, is advancing fast with 58% of the $369.9-million project capital committed as of May 31.

Priority will now shift to advancing site earthworks.

The Toronto-headquartered company reported on Monday that construction continues to accelerate and employment will top 1 300 workers later this year.

Lydian said it had completed work on primary site access roads, the adsorption desorption refining (ADR) plant platform, the construction warehouse platform and the heap leach facility (HLF) temporary sediment dam. Earthworks and construction activities have started on the platform for the crushing and screening plant and in other areas at higher elevations.

Construction power and water are in place, access roads are complete, the construction warehouse has been erected and detailed design and fabrication of the electrical distribution equipment is in process, the company reported.

As the hot summer months approach, personnel will be accommodated in a local 250-bed hotel used for initial worker accommodations and which has been renovated, while the 680-bed permanent residence camp is expected to be completed and occupied later this summer.

Lydian further pointed out that the design of the mine haul road was now complete and the construction contract awarded.

Caterpillar is ahead of schedule in producing the primary mine mobile equipment, and initial deliveries are expected to start in late July. The mining fleet for Amulsar will include, among other things, 19 Caterpillar 789D 180 t capacity haul trucks, one Caterpillar 994 front-end-loader, and two Caterpillar 6040 hydraulic shovels. A training simulator has been bought to train equipment operators.

Further, the design and fabrication contracts for the crushing and screening plant and the overland conveyor system have been awarded. Fabrication of the equipment components is in process, and the first shipment of structural steel for the crushing plant was delivered to site on schedule. Earthworks preparing the crushing and screening plant building platform are in progress.

Lydian has also completed design of the HLF and the contract for the earthworks has now been awarded. The contractor has mobilised to site and has started topsoil stripping. The contract for supplying and installing the geomembrane liner for the HLF and associated process ponds has also been awarded.

Meanwhile, Lydian reported that it has awarded the contract for the design and supply of the ADR plant, and equipment construction is under way.

The company also announced that the Amulsar project is advancing its application to secure pre-operational certification under the International Cyanide Management Code with positive assessments by an International Cyanide Management Institute- (ICMI-) listed third-party auditor and a commendation by the ICMI on its commitment to the Cyanide Code and its pursuit of pre-operational certification.

Lydian’s TSX-listed stock added a penny on Monday, closing up 4.84% at C$0.32 a share.