Gabriel Resources' plan was met with sporadic resistance over the past years.īut a draft law adopted last month by the centre-left government allowing it to circumvent legislation was the catalyst for unprecedented protests. "This project is too sensitive for a country like Romania, where public institutions are not prepared to deal with potential ecological disasters," economist Cristian Grosu told AFP. The Academy listed 21 arguments against the mine, including the risks of earthquakes triggered by blasts and of leaks from the dam holding cyanide-laced waste from processing. "The mine is not a solution for long-term development and does not solve the region's social and economic problems," said the Romanian Academy, the country's top scientific body. It also promises a shower of benefits for Romania's economy, including 2,300 jobs in the construction phase and up to 900 during the 16 years the mine operates.īut four mountains will be levelled and environmentalists and archaeologists warn against major pollution risks and irreversible damage to unique Roman-era mining galleries. With no previous experience in mining, the company plans to extract 300 tonnes of gold using 12,000 tonnes of cyanide a year. Gabriel Resources, which owns an 80-percent stake in the Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC), looks set to open Europe's biggest open-cast gold mine in the Transylvanian village of Rosia Montana. "For comparison's sake, four steel companies employing 5,000 people went bankrupt in Romania this summer and the government did nothing to prevent it," he added. "Unlike other industries, the mining sector does not create many jobs, and indeed very few horizontally," economist Razvan Orasanu told AFP. While the companies promise thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment in the two capital-starved economies, analysts and opponents stress the mines will leave deep scars on the picturesque regions, drive tourists away and spell the end of the local communities. In Greece, Eldorado Gold has similar plans for two sites in the Halkidiki peninsula. In Romania, Canadian firms Gabriel Resources and Eldorado Gold as well as Kazakhstan's SAT & Company hope to start digging in 2016.
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