Armenia Forum Told Copper Demand May Rise 7m Tonnes

Armenia's Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan told the Mining Armenia Forum on 16 October 2026 that demand for copper alone would rise by around 7 million tonnes by 2040, Armenpress reported. He said the role of mining in the global economy is changing and that Armenia's task is to build a qualitatively different mining industry rather than simply extract more ore.

The forum, held on 16 and 17 October 2026 in Tsaghkadzor, is in its third year. Armenpress reported more than 350 delegates from around 15 countries and about 50 speakers. Its theme is "From Resources to Opportunities".

What the minister said

Grigoryan linked competitiveness to more than geology. He said it depends on natural resources together with predictable regulation, a stable tax environment, effective public administration, infrastructure and investor-friendly policies. The reports reviewed by CBJ do not give any new Armenian output, export or tax figures from the speech, and the source of the 7 million tonne projection was not named. It is therefore the deputy prime minister's statement, not an independently checked forecast.

Who is in the room

The organisers are the Mining Forum Development Foundation and the Association of Mining and Metallurgical Industry of Armenia. The strategic sponsors are Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine and Lydian Armenia. Vardan Janyan, president of the association and first deputy director general of the combine, gave the opening speech. Lydian Armenia was represented by its founder, board chair and executive director Aik Aloyan. Sessions are run by Wood Mackenzie on market opportunities and investment appeal in Armenian mining, and by S&P Global Energy on sustainability trends in investment decisions.

The production backdrop

The policy message lands after a year of rising concentrate output. CBJ reported that copper concentrate output rose 27.2% in January to August 2026 and that molybdenum concentrate output rose 17.9% while ferromolybdenum fell 45.5%. The gold sector also reached a milestone this month, covered in CBJ's report on the Amulsar launch.

Grigoryan's call for a different kind of industry may point at value added inside Armenia, a gap the ferromolybdenum figures illustrate, although he did not mention that metal in the speech as reported.

What to watch

• Whether the government turns the forum's regulatory language into concrete changes to taxes, licensing or processing incentives.
• How the environmental record of mining is discussed at the COP17 biodiversity conference, which JAMnews reports runs from 19 to 30 October 2026 in Armenia.
• The January to August copper and January to September output data, which will show whether the 2026 gains hold.

Sources: Armenpress on Grigoryan's speech, 16 October 2026; Armenpress on the forum, 16 October 2026 (Russian); JAMnews digest, 12 to 16 October 2026