The Romanian government is looking to revive mining at Rosia Montana which is said to be the largest gold and silver resource in Europe. However there is considerable opposition to the plans for open pit mines in the region as it will destroy ancient heritage sites and the present day environment.
Romanian President Traian Basescu supports the mine and said that it was in Romania's interest that the mining of the gold begins as rapidly as possible. He also said that any country that has resources must use them.
Prime Minister Emil Boc said that he was not a fan of this project but, in his capacity as the Government leader, he awaited the specialists' official position. He believed this project had at least two major issues at this moment: an environmental one - on which he awaited the specialists' position - and an economic one, relating what Romania's benefit from this contract is. From the viewpoint of Romania's interest, this contract by far was poorly closed.
Trouble is to get to the precious metals the village of Rosia Montana which is located in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania will be totally destroyed. 200 tons of waste rock would likely be dumped in a nearby valley and another 250 million tons of waste, laced with the cyanide used to extract gold from rock, would be stored behind a huge dam.
These factors lead to great potential danger to the environment and many critics have openly voiced their disapproval of the plan. Also Rosia Montana is actually a 2,000 year old mining site. There is a likelihood of the village being included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Should that come to pass there will be no mining possible in the area.
There is a section amongst the locals who are not too concerned with the past but are more interested in the work opportunities that the mine would provide. They are crying for the jobs that extracting 300 tons of gold and 1,600 tons of silver from the region would bring. The Group for the Support of the Rosia Montana Project hopes that their 50 members will be able to turn the ride and prove that the investment in mining was more relevant to the future economic development of the country.