HUNGARY/FILE: Public hearing held in Budapest over planned Rosia Montana Gold Mine project in Romania

Record ID: 607669

  • Title: HUNGARY/FILE: Public hearing held in Budapest over planned Rosia Montana Gold Mine project in Romania
  • Date: 31st August 2006
  • Summary: (CEEF) SZEGED, HUNGARY (FILE - FEBRUARY 11, 2000) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WORKERS AND FISHERMEN PULLING DEAD FISH OUT OF RIVER AFTER CYANIDE LEAK FROM BAIA MARE MINE IN ROMANIA (2 SHOTS) VARIOUS OF DEAD FISH LINED UP ON GROUND (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 15th September 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVAEBKIB29W2D1HCZB8ZDKA63D6Q
  • Story Text: A public hearing lasting till the early hours of Wednesday (August 30) took place in Budapest about the planned Rosia Montana Gold Mine in Romania developed by the Canadian-led Rosia Montana Gold Corp.
    Hungary opposes the project for fear that it could create cross-border environmental problems.
    Several environmental groups, including Greenpeace and local organizations have called on the Romanian government to deny environmental permits for the mine at Rosia Montana, some 190 kilometres east of the border with Hungary because it would use cyanide to extract gold from ore.
    The groups fear a repeat of a 2000 environmental accident in which cyanide-laced water leaked from a reservoir at an Australian-owned gold mine into the Tisza River, killing much of its aquatic life. The Tisza is a tributary of the Danube River, which flows to the Black Sea.
    Rosia Montana Gold Corporation is working to build Europe's largest open cast gold mining project entailing amongst other things the involuntary resettlement of over 2000 people.
    Hungarian environmentalist groups fear a potential disaster would be much bigger than the one from Baia Mare gold mine in 2000.
    "This Rosia Montana Gold Mine investment is Europe's biggest open pit gold mine project and its permission procedure is underway at present. It will pose an enormous environmental risk. Pollution of ground water and surface waters could occur during its operation as well as after its closure, and for decades it will be a huge time bomb," Benedek Javor, from Vedegylet (Protect the Future) said.
    From its onset the development has been beleaguered with scandals and operational problems, including local, national and international opposition by both civil society and expert institutions.
    At the Budapest hearing the Rosia Montana Gold Mine corporation representatives tried to allay fears about the mine. The company told the audience that its mine would be different from the infamous Baia Mare one because it would be a modern mine with an investment of 800 million dollars, and it would meet all EU requirements.
    They showed a gold mine in Spain where cyanide is used and claimed that fish are swimming in nearby streams. The companies vice-president, John Aston, who is from Ireland, stressed that this mine will be like many other European mines that also use cyanide. Aston also claimed that cyanide will only be used in the factory and would not get into the tailings dam.
    Questions from the audience included many about the safety of the tailings dam.
    The company responded by saying there would be 2 dams, and if one spills the other one would pump that back.
    "If any water slips through the first dam it's collected and pumped back up again into the tailings dam facility," John Aston said.
    But people did not seem convinced.
    In the past, both members of the Hungarian opposition and of the governing party expressed concern about the planned mine, and said Romania should not join the European Union until the Rosia Montana project was cancelled.
    Green parties have kept urging the Hungarian government that it should use Hungary's membership in the European Union to put pressure on Romania. But the Hungarian government representative at the hearing told Reuters that they would not be doing so.
    "Putting pressure does not belong to the tools of such cases. But our working methods will include the endless repetitions of rational argument," Laszlo Haraszthy, state secretary of environment protection at the Hungarian Environmental Ministry said.
    For many living in Rosia Montana, the possibility of an expanded mine operation represents economic opportunity. The towns mayor Virgil Narita says the majority of residents agree.
    But not everyone is in favour. The project also requires thousands of villagers to relocate, a time-consuming process due to issues with tracing property records that date back to the start of last century. Many houses which would need to be moved have "not for sale " signs on them, even as the company builds sample houses to show where they would relocate residents.
    Gabriel claims it has managed to trace 87 percent of the records and had so far bought 43 percent of private properties, although it stopped purchasing last summer.
    Environmentalists however, insist the planned mine expansion is laced with danger, pointing to the deadly gold mine cyanide spill in 2000 that devastated a network of rivers in both Romania and across the border in Hungary.
    The Rosia Montana company however argues that by allowing mining, Romania will also be able to fund the eventual rehabilitation of the area - something it could not afford on its own.
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