German Chancellor defends planned lithium deal with Serbia
Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis are currently in discussions with Serbia’s government to invest in the country.
The fate of Gabriel Resources’ Rosia Montana will be settled in early November when the parliament votes to accept or reject the recommendation of a 21-person commission.
The company’s share price is telling us to expect rejection, but it didn’t have to come to this, argues Eric Reguly in the Globe and Mail.
Gabriel’s original sin was that it went too big, too fast, using an uncompromising approach to make “a lot of money quickly.”
This “bigfoot approach” included plans to blow up two mountainsides in order to build four pits, fill a valley with “waste-rock and cyanide-laced sludge” and force 2,000 people from their homes.
Instead of starting small, working to gain “the confidence and trust of the residents” as the project developed, “all [Gabriel] saw was the dollars,” according to Stephen Roman, a mining promoter who was a part of the Gabriel team during the early years.
Rosia Montana (Credit: travelforacause.eu)
Read Reguly’s article in full here.
8 Comments
Rob
Let them do their mining job and bring assets instead of making lawyers rich
Give the jobs to the hardworking people of Romani because their people
Protesting and getting paid too take the food off the table of hard working
Miners and their families.
Petre
mining is only for US, Australia and others… Romanian think they don’t have to work
John E - Australia
I have long watched this Project and it would be a sin to desecrate such pristine country side; but also a sin not to boost an otherwise destitute economy. Small start as indicated in the article has opened the way in many cases for bigger things later in the event. The drama at Baia Mare lingers long in the air and will not be cleared unless stringent conditions and continual monitoring steps are put in place. The potential is there for all to make a success of the Project by everyone working together for a sound cause and not for get rich quick schemes through unruly politics or greed of others. Perhaps mining is only for US, Australia and others; however is it not also advantage for employment for people as well as revenue for the Government??
Daniel
The company’s plan is to blow up FOUR mountain tops and excavate 400 meters beneath. Also, the author fails to mention the exceptional herritage value of the multi-millennial site. The little Apuseni village is home to the most elaborate Roman (an pre-roman, medieval etc) galleries.
Here’s an independent report commisioned by the Romanian Culture Ministery (scroll to the end of the article and you’ll find a statement of signifiance): http://totb.ro/exclusiv-totb-citeste-integral-raportul-specialistilor-straini-despre-importanta-rosiei-montane-pentru-patrimoniul-mondial-a-carui-existenta-a-fost-negata-de-ministerul-culturii/
The area has potential for sustainable development through tourism for many years to come! Why would you choose to blow it up?
Dew W.
“[…] Carnic Massif constitutes part of a wider cultural landscape of high signifiance, comparable in magnitude to “outstanding universal value” in the UNESCO criteria for World Heritage status. The evidence of Roman mining in Carnic is part of the largest, most extensive and most important underground mine complexes within the Roman Empira. It is, in this important respectm unique.
The underground evidence of mining, galleries, adits and technology gains in signifiance because it is associated with an historic landscape above ground with evidence o fpreocessing, settlements, ritual and comunities. Further evidence, from epigraphy, was tablets and closely dated archeological depositis, enhances Rosia Montana as one of the world’s outstanding heritage assets.
[…] The statement of signifiance would focus […] principally ont the Roman evidence. However, the site inspection above and below ground quickly made it clear that Rosia Montana represents a landscape of probably unparalleled complexity, of great signifiance for the history of other periods too. In the Corna and Rosia Montana valleys and on the mountains of Carnic, Cetate, Carnichel and Jid-Vladoaia Roman, medieval, 18th and 19th-century mining, together with the galleries and installations of the communist period have together created a unique palimpsest of exploatation. Moreover, the pre-Roman, Dacian and post-Roman phases of activity have not been studied at all. Even at the current level of understanding it represents a resource of unique signifiance.”
Matt
And once you commit the original sin, you will never win.
Petre
I’ve seen first hand how good are (NOT) the Romanian at tourism. They very far from being able to make money from tourism. Actually many Romanian prefer to spend their vacation in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria – better service, better price etc.
Mining can be done in a responsible way. The fact that people mined in this regions for thousands of years is very significant.
They should stay with what they are good at; and tourism is definitely not one these things.
mike
The royalty is just 4%, and Romania is left with the tailing ponds to take care of, and a lot of displaced people far exceeding the number of jobs created.
For Rosia Montana mining operation it is projected that
Romania will get an estimated 143 millions/year for 16 years, which is hilarious. In comparison Romania is struggling to absorb European development funds of a much greater value.
Make no mistake, by contract Gabriel Resources is offering no warranties. It’s all a projection from a company with NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
I don’t know if you realize, but Romania is a small country in Europe and in the case of an accident will have to pay damages to the neighboring countries
Look what happened in 2000 at another far smaller scale operation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2…
Romania is still paying damages to Hungary far exceeding the royalties
In the meantime Hungary passed legislation to ban cyanide mining operations, and it is putting pressure on Romania to do so.
We should also not forget how Gabriel Resources Gold Corporation was formed, the shady transaction in which Frank Timis, the founder of Gold Corporation obtained stolen documentation from a bribed official.
Judge for yourself.