After 14 long years of debate and negotiations, the Romanian ruling Social Democratic Party has approved a proposal for a legislation that will allow the Canadian mining company Gabriel Resources to proceed with the Rosia Montana mine project. The parliament will vote the new bill in September.
That being said, Romania is preparing itself to become the co-owner of Europe’s largest open-pit gold mine. The government approved the proposal recently and declared the project of “overriding national public interest”.
The Rosia Montana mine was created during the communist era and is currently managed by the local Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC), mainly owned by Gabriel Resources and also by the Romanian government (20 percent). However, this law will change a few things, the first one being that the state will own 25 percent of the new project once the construction begins.
The draft bill, pushed by the Prime Minister Victor Ponta, also requires Gabriel Resources to pay royalty taxes of 6 to 2 percent more than other mineral resource projects. The Canadian company is anticipating the first gold batches in November 2016.
However, not everyone is happy with this announcement: some locals are strongly against the use of cyanide as part of the extraction process and cut into mountain peaks. In response to these complaints, Gabriel Resources has promised to “ensure environmental protection and eliminate historical pollution” while generating 2,300 jobs during the construction phases and 900 direct positions for the operations’ sector.
The mining firm estimates the project, located in western Transylvania, will bring more than $24 billion to the country through direct and indirect GDP contributions.