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Despite what was written in "The Good, The Bad and The Rusty" (Vol.1/No.2), and "Dust and Democracy" (The Bulletin, Vol.11/No.4): there is much hope for the future in the villages of Rosia Montana in the gold and silver mining region of the Apuseni Mountains in Romania. From a situation in the 1990s when unemployment and lack of prospects had reduced the local population to an all-time low, and when mining was a synonym to financial loss andenvironmental damage, people have begun to take hope as they undertake the preliminary work being carried out to prepare for the possibility of a new, but modern, mining operation. The resulting proposed Rosia Montana gold and silver mining development will also improve the environment in the area — a situation verifiable by an informed site visit and an examination of the design of the proposed project.
To clarify what has become a confusing situation, the simple facts of the Rosia Montana gold and silver mining development project are:
• It will meet EU and Romanian legislation.
• It offers much more than a mine as it has considerable cultural heritage protection, and environmental and socioeconomic regeneration components.
• The proposed open pits are superimposed on past and existing mining sites, hence minimising the impact on existing non-mining land.
• The project will rectify the unacceptable acid rock drainage problem from the impacted zone that is currently polluting the Danube river basin.
• Proposed cyanide usage will be to EU standards and will be under the strict management of the UNEP-facilitated International Cyanide Management Code. (Cyanide has already been used in this region without any of these safeguards in the past — the proposed project ensures this cyanide use will follow global best safety standards).
• As is normal for a project such as this in any region of the world, the indirect jobs generated will by far outnumber the direct jobs.
• The resulting economic development in the area will be the start of a new era that will provide a realistic platform for sustainable development.
• The success of this development for the region is also dependent on responsible and positive action by civil society.
Those who oppose the development claim they represent the community. They do not. The developers have continuous productive contact with approximately 95 percent of the local community.
The application for the development’s environmental license was started under Romanian law (which now reflects the EU legislation in all EIA issues) on December 14, 2004 with the submission of a technical report (The Project Presentational Report) presenting the proposed development (see www.rmgc.ro for this report). This initiates both the EIA process (with its large public consultation component), and the requiremements of the Espoo Convention. This will provide a lengthy and professional review process for the proposed development. We welcome requests for visits to Rosia Montana, and encourage all interested parties to gain first-hand knowledge of both the current situation of the area as well as information and facts on what our Romanian-Canadian joint venture is proposing as part of the solution to the many
problems the area currently has. |
