Historical Overview
Improving transparency in Mining Sector
The mining sector is the fastest growing sectors of the economy of the Republic of Armenia. In view of the importance of the mining sector for social and economic sphere of Armenia, the Government of the Republic of Armenia pays special attention to enhancement of transparency and accountability in the sector, which is a cornerstone of democratic governance. Provision of complete and timely-sensitive information on the mining sector to the public ensues from the human right to freedom of information, promotes effective public control and establishment of participatory governance.
The Geological Fund Digitization
The Republican Geological Fund was established in 2002 as part of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Armenia. Almost all works related to geological study of subsurface resources performed in the territory of the Republic of Armenia since the 1920s of the last century have been collected and kept in the Fund’s depository. The Fund’s depository contains not only information on the aforementioned works, but also exhaustive geological and other data in the form of documents obtained during operation of the fields of mineral deposits.
These valuable documents available in hardcopies of worn out paper could have hardly been recovered in case of loss. So, to ensure maintenance and continuous access to information of public importance, as well as concurrent digitization of newly received hardcopy (paper) and electronic materials, the Government of the Republic of Armenia proceeded with digitization of the materials of the Fund, which was made possible with support of the US Agency for International Development within the scope of the Project “Improvement of Transparency in the Mining Sector” having been implemented since 2015. During the Project it is expected to digitize the geological reports on mineral resources explored at approximately 750 mines and 600 mineral occurrences, as well as cartography and graphic packages.
Public Disclosure of Information
Digitalization of the Fund’s available materials ensures not only their preservation on electronic media, but also enables making them accessible to the wider public. Digital and digitalized database will be available to the public through this website.The website will serve as a useful resource for policy makers, interested businessmen and civil society representatives, researchers and academic institutions, journalists and citizens to get information about mines, mineral deposits and mineral occurrences.
It is expected that accessibility to the vast amount of geological information and promotion of informed dialogue will contribute to development of geological science in Armenia, enhance efficiency in subsurface resources management and strengthen State-Society relations in the course of public policy development.