Rosia Montana, one of the most controversial mining projects inRomania, will be included in the government's programme, withEconomy Minister Adriean Videanu saying he wishes this investmentto be launched quickly, after having been frozen for over twoyears.
This mining project in the Apuseni Mountains (W Romania) willsee around 317 tonnes of gold and nearly 1,600 tonnes of silverextracted, which at today's worth amounts to around 12 billiondollars' worth of precious metal. However, the Romanian state holdsonly 20% of this huge project, with the rest being in the hands ofCanadian investors.
"I want this project to be kicked off as soon as possible. Itwill be included in the government's programme," said AdrieanVideanu, Minister of the Economy, at the end of last week.
Gold is the only asset whose worth has not been affected by thecrisis, with one ounce of gold currently worth over 1,100 dollars,while one ounce of silver is valued at over 17 dollars.
"The project has not budged since 2007, when its evaluation wassuspended by the Ministry of the Environment. All we want is forthis project to be appraised. The environmental permit is the mostimportant one out of a series of approvals necessary to secure theconstruction permit. It will take two years from the start ofbuilding works for the mine until gold is extracted from RosiaMontana," says Dragos Tanase, general manager of Rosia Montana GoldCorporation.
The Romanian state has 20% of the project, while Canadian-heldGabriel Resources owns 80% of Rosia Montana Gold Corporation.
The partnership between the Romanian state and Gabriel Resourceswas sealed in 1997, when Rosia Montana Gold Corporation wasestablished.
One of the big obstacles to conducting this project is the useof cyanide to mine gold in Rosia Montana, which would have a majornegative impact on the environment. Even in the presidentialcampaign, the two candidates, Mircea Geoana and Traian Basescu saidthe decision to start the Rosia Montana project would only be madeif the studies show the environment and the archaeological sitesare not affected.
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