A storm in the making

Stephanie Roth

EuroGold's project to develop Europe's biggest open-cast mine in Romania's Apuseni region is taking hair-raising proportions. Stephanie Roth watches the unfolding of a predictable tragedy.

Nestled in Romania's Apuseni mountains lies Rosia Montana, a valley traditionally inhabited by the `Motz' (Tara Motilor) - a stubborn people with an extraordinary history. Their headstrong character, more than anything, is a result of a persistent struggle against gold-thirsty intruders.

Gold has been mined here since time immemorial. The first to arrive were the Romans some 1870 years ago and in desperate search for resources to rebuild Rome. Rosia Montana is the oldest documented town in Romania, then known as Alburnus Major. Decebal's treasury, together with tons more gold from the area, eventually helped the Roman Empire to get out of its financial crisis; giving way to the Antoninis era; one of the most prosperous in Roman history. Herod took gold from here and Trajan's column was raised in commemoration of no less than such conquest. To-date the mountains are honeycombed with Roman mine-galleries and the area is littered with remains bearing witness to the Dacs, Romans, Celts, Goths, Hungarians and Habsburgs; whose legends and armies were build with Motz gold.

Today another empire is about to invade the Motz for their gold. And they intend to take everything. If they succeed in taking over the valley there will be nothing left; not a single house, or grave stone, or church. It will all be gone.

Spring has arrived in Rosia Montana. It's peaceful. The sun is shining; warming the valley's soil and soul. The bees are humming and as far as the eye can see nature is covered in a coat of green, yellow, white and blue. Yet underneath one can not fail to sense unrest, a deeply nervous unrest. It feels like a storm brewing - a big one - but there isn't one dark cloud. Instead the sky is deep blue.

Gabriel Resources and Rosia Montana
In 1997, Toronto-based Gabriel Resources (see www.gabrielresources.com) formed `Euro Gold Resources', a joint venture company with Minvest SA., Romania's state mining company. In the same year, Euro Gold announced the discovery of the largest gold deposit in Europe and this in the Rosia Montana perimeter. In 1999 the Romanian government approved a concession license granting the right to develop, mine and deliver gold in the Rosia Montana area. Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC) is the part of Euro Gold that will specifically mine in the Rosia Montana valley. Importantly for Gabriel Resources, these deposits are located in a zone officially declared `disadvantaged'. This means that any manufacturing or production activity is subject to a 10-year VAT, import and export duty, and corporate tax holiday. It also grants indemnification against environmental damages caused by `previous owners.' Gabriel Resources will pay a 2% ($4.4.m p.a.) gross production royalty on all production to the Romanian government.

Early exploratory drilling estimated 100-150m tons of ore containing 1,9g/t of gold. In a matter of few months Gabriel Resources more than quadrupled its resource estimate and subsequently increased its interest from 65% to 80%. According to highlights of the company's second feasibility study released last November, the Rosia Montana venture expects to produce 329,000oz per year at about $157mio per ounce over a 16 year mine life. The project will be operated as large scale, bulk tonnage, conventional open-pit mine; operating 24hours a day, 7 days a week. Mining will commence at Cetate, closest to the process plant, then Cirnic, then Orlea; with Jig being the final point to be developed. A total of approximately 196.4m tonnes of waste material will be removed from the four open pits; giving an overall life of mine waste/ore stripping ratio of 0.98 to1. Cyanide Sodium will be employed at 0.8g/t. Other advanced exploration projects in the region include: Bucium, Corabia, Botes and Frasin.

Zeno Cornea, a retired miner and Motz who knows the area inside out, takes me up a hill; past flocks of sheep with their shepherd, past a lake that mirrors the moment, until we reach the top. Beneath lies the valley of Rosia Montana.

Zeno points to the left. "Thirty years ago", he explains "there was an old Dacian town; just there. It stood on a hill looking down onto the valley. Then Ceausescu came." Ahead lies a void, a deep hole, a crater of nothingness; an open-pit mine; devoid of anything but a big tractor at the bottom's end. The blue sky marks the sole contrast.

Until the seventies there was no open pit mining in the valley. Instead the miners descended deep into the mountains; together with their picks and sweated their way for gold. At the local museum the guide shows a wooden, medieval-looking gold mill, still used by 1948. Next to it stands a life-size version of its ferocious successor.

Zeno unfolds a large piece of paper. "This arrived through my door ten days ago. It's a public consultation announcement from the Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC). Everyone in the valley received one like this." Zeno turns the paper over; on the back is a map of the area; the header reads `zone for industrial development.' "Look," says Zeno "Can you see the villages of Cetate and Cirnic?" They lie straight ahead, in the valley below; basking in the sun. "This is where they are on the map," Blots of pink, lilac and green; indicate the different stages of the mine development. No signs of the villages though, instead it reads `Cariera Cetate' and `Cariera Cirnic'.

On the way to Corna, Zeno explains that the valley has been Protected National Patrimony since an official governmental decree in April 2000. We stare at the map and Zeno points to a mountain that after thousands of years, will simply vanish. Our car winds its way through the landscape. It is impossible to visualize multiple voids in its place. It feels like free-falling. This can't be true. Zeno points to the map. It will be true. "This is where they are going to keep part of the sterile. We are now approaching what will become the tailing management facility with the cyanide lake and dam." Outside, a sunny valley with scattered hay sacks; Corna lies ahead.

The dam on the map is huge, just above the town of Abrud. There is a river. It runs right by the dam and into Abrud with its 13,000 inhabitants. "Just imagine, a dam 180 meters high, with a lake covering a total 600ha. It will have a capacity of 250m tons. Cyanide is toxic and it's unpredictable. Cyanide escaping into groundwater happens all the time. How do you 'control' a spill? And what about condensation? The lake won't be covered; it's in an open environment. Even the rain here is acidic enough to form Hydrogen Cyanide Nitrogen (HCyN) when it falls onto the lake. How many Baia Mare's will it take?" There is nothing stopping Zeno now: "Besides, it's not only cyanide leaking into the ground water and rivers. Cyanide extracts gold from ore by making it soluble. But it also makes soluble the other metals in the ore." Zeno counts, one finger after other: "Arsenic, lead, uranium, mercury, iron, nickel, cadmium .." Zeno shakes his head and looks out onto the road: "It's mad. Because of Baia Mare there are countries like the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Greece and Turkey that have either outlawed the use of cyanide or are advocating to outlaw its use. and what's happening here, in the very country where the Baia Mare disaster happened? Companies employing the cyanide leaching method get the red carpet treatment." Zeno makes the cuckoo sign.

The Baia Mare cyanide spill
The disastrous cyanide pollution of the Tizsa and Danube River - the worst environmental disaster in Europe since Chernobyl - is well known. In January 2000 an estimated 100,000 cubic meters of waste containing cyanide and heavy metals spilled from Aurul SA's gold operation in Baia Mare; poisoning and killing much of the river's life. At the time of the spill, Aurul SA was half owned by the Romanian state-owned company Remin, and half by Esmeralda Exploration Ltd. of Perth, Australia. Whilst Aurul SA's target production had been at 2m tonnes p.a., Gabriel Resources' production estimate for Rosia Montana is 13m tones p.a.

"Because of the sheer magnitude of the project, people will have to be moved; and lots of them. Whole villages as a matter of fact. After all, this will be Europe's biggest open-cast mine; claiming roughly 1600ha of land. EuroGold plans to finish its first resettlement project by the end of this year. But we won't move; not even an inch. Gabriel Resources say that they are abiding by the World Bank `Forced Resettlement Directive'. What does this mean? This is our soil. Nobody has asked us if we agree to leave; or if we agree that our churches and cemeteries are to be excavated, bulldozed over in order to become a cyanide lake, an open-pit mine, a waste site or a processing site. 2000 people will be directly affected and what everyone seems to deny is the danger to the people that live right under the cyanide lake. It's an active bomb."

The IFC, the World Bank's private lending sector, and Gabriel Resources
"The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is in preliminary discussions with the project sponsor, Gabriel Resources regarding IFC's possible participation in the Rosia Montana gold project. No decision has been made by either the sponsor or IFC regarding IFC's participation.
IFC and the sponsor are fully aware that the project involves a number of environmental and social issues, which would need be addressed for the project to be successfully implemented. If IFC became involved, it would help the sponsor ensure that these issues were fully addressed, that the project complied with the World Bank Group environmental and social guidelines and that the benefits of the project to the local community and region's economy were maximized."
Statement by the IFC, Washington, D.C. 27th May 2002.

Back in Cirnic Zeno takes me to meet Aurel Manta and his wife, the local historian. Until his retirement a year ago, Aurel was chief of the mine's geological service. Zeno David, president of Alburnus Major - the local group opposing forced resettlement - joins us. Aurel grabs the Palinka, that lethal but delicious plum schnapps. Chairs are pulled together. It's a circle of weather-washed faces. Strong hands, folded, rest on the table. Aurel starts off: "There are about 750 family farms in this valley alone. These people live by what the land brings. Now we all are to be `resettled.' Have you seen the 200 square metre show bungalow Gabriel is offering? It's ridiculous. There is no place to keep animals; there is no place to grow vegetables. Do you know where they want to move us?" Aurel points to a hill on top of the valley. "This is where they want to move us. Every day we will able to look into what was our valley and the only thing we will see will be how they are eating up our land. We have nothing to lose. I`d rather die than leave."

The conversation turns towards politics. We speak about the fact that Gabriel Resources has no mining experience yet plans to go ahead which such a crazy project. We wonder whether they are going to sell. We wonder whether this is why they are promising jobs all round. We talk about Frank Timis, Gabriel's chairman who has two convictions for possessing heroin with intent to sell. His second one was as late as 1994. Zeno David finally gets to talk about his favorite subject: the local mayor. "Our mayor is a man called Virgil Naritsa. He is a vet. He is also a successful businessman with several shops. He was elected two years ago; representing a small unknown party. Yet he was elected. Do you know why he was elected?" I don't. "He was elected bbecause of the one message he advocated. His message was: `No to the gold project'. As soon as he was elected; he changed camps and his mind. Just like that; out of the blue. With his support, the RMGC project gradually took off. 11 members of the council then approved a new land use plan to allow mining, they did so without the prerequisite public consultation. The regional prefect has confirmed that this is illegal and that the land use plan thus is invalid. Yet the rule of law doesn't apply. After all, this is about the largest foreign investment in Romania to date. The mayor would probably argue that it's his duty to defend a $400m project that will supposedly save the country's mining industry. On a national and international level, the mayor's support was seen as `local' support; this was an important step to enable RMGC to eventually work it's way up the country's political hierarchy. Suddenly the project is coined as being of `national importance' and in the `national interest.' It's no coincidence that on the eve of the first public consultation RMGC bought air time on TVR1, the country's main television channel, telling both the country and the Motz about the importance of the project. They did this before but this time even our Broadcasting Commission thought it went too far."

"Alburnus Major represents over 300 family farms in this valley and about 2000 from the nearby communities that will be directly affected by the mining. Some communities such as Abrud for example, have their own opposition groups with whom we closely work together. But RMGC has other advanced exploration operations in this area. For example, they want to mine over 80 square kilometers in Bucium, a small but extremely stubborn Motz community in the mountains. We have a lot of support there and try to reach out to the smaller communities." The conversation turns to possible conflicts, even family feuds that the project might have given rise to. Zeno nods:" The mayor was elected because of his opposition to the mine. Since then things have changed. Some families want to sell, they think they will get a lot of money. Also, RMGC goes round promising jobs to everyone; to the young people in particular. They go home and tell their parents about their prospective jobs. This is how parents who rationally and traditionally opposed the mine now remain silent. After all, about 50% refuse to express an opinion. This is Romania; people are still very scared. Unfortunately that silence is golden in its truest sense, it works for RMGC."

The conversation turns towards the recent Public Consultation. All of a sudden, those tired and sad eyes come to live again; everyone wants to talk. Zeno gets through: "In early April, RMGC announced a four day public consultation; one affected sector per day. Perhaps they hoped no one would show up and they could tick this off as some sort of approval. Well we showed them differently, didn't we?" Aurela Manta laughs into his glass. "The first consultation took place at the Town Hall in Rosia Montana. We worked solidly for three days; non-stop. We emptied our wives' laundry cupboards; taking all the sheets we could get. The children brought pens and water-colors. We retreated to Bucium, that Motz strong-hold, where in the chicken shed of the pubcumstorecumphonebooth we drew the banners. We had two messages: We want a truly democratic referendum; one for every affected village. The second message was that cyanide equals genocide. We did a good job. Some of us organized whistles and plastic trumpets; others were in charge of organizing transportation to Rosia Montana; others still were in charge of alerting friends and relatives. Nicoletta, the store-keeper's daughter was on the phone, talking to the press."

More palinka makes the round. Zeno David leans back; grinning. "Then came the day, it was raining, a storm was brewing. `It's a good sign,' I said to myself. The school bus arrived, it didn't break down and we arrived right on time. The Town Hall was packed with discontented farmers and outside stood the wives, young men and children mainly from Bucium, carrying the banners and shouting to their hearts' content. Even our toothless Mircea was happy; we gave him one of those plastic trumpets." We break into laughter. "Meanwhile and inside the Town Hall sitting along a table up on the podium was the RMGC delegation, imported all the way from Canada. Mike Steyn, the general manager was also present. You should have seen their faces. We took them completely by surprise; it was heaven. Whilst the delegation was trying to start the consultation, Vup from Bucium pulled out an old battered suitcase, which we had colorfully decorated with `Adio' and `Bon Voyage.' He made his way to Mr Steyn, positioned the suitcase right under his nose and said something along the lines of: `I will never leave, so I won't need to pack my suitcase. So have mine.' That's when hell broke loose. Under a storm of whistling and shouting, RMGC cancelled the consultation. Mr Steyn left diplomatically but obviously in a hurry; he forgot Vup's present. Fortunately Vup caught his sleeve. All in all we were about 200 people which is not bad given the short notice and the fact that many farmers can't leave their farms. It was the first demonstration of this kind in Romania; it has set a visible precedent. Later the day we brought the banners to the group in Abrud, where next days consultation was scheduled. The same happened there again. As a consequence RMGC cancelled the rest of the consultation period." Zeno leans back, empties his palinka and sighs. "We just hope they got the message and won't come up with a new brain-washing device to buy public opinion. RMGC announced the public consultation where we told them exactly what we think; it does matter."

Mrs Manta speaks for the first time:" Look at this place, this is where I was born. So were my parents and grandparents and great grandparents. I built the local museum. Over ten altars bearing inscriptions to Roman gods are displayed there. This is an area of immense archeological importance protected by law. We don't want to leave. The project is simply mad. Just imagine the breath-taking scale of the cyanide that will be employed. According to all the laws of the universe this project should not be allowed to go ahead."

The winds are rising; the battle has started. It is true what is said about the Motz; they are stubborn and they are proud of their land. They have paid dearly defending it. Gold can be a curse. Their history is one of ongoing tragedies and only the future holds the key. That is why this story has to be told now.


Suggested Campaign Action:

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) claims to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries as a way to reduce poverty and improve people's lives. Please write a letter to the IFC and explain why lending funds to Gabriel Resources for this particular project is not sustainable but a danger to people's lives and the environment they depend on. The IFC's mining department is joined with the World Bank.

Please write to:
Mr. James Bond, Director, Mining Department, e -mail:  JBond@worldbank.org,
Mr. Kent Lupberger, Manager, Investments, e-mail:  KLupberger@ifc.org
Peter van der Veen, Manager, Policy and Reform, E-mail:  Pvanderveen@worldbank.org .

Postal address:
The Mining Department. World Bank / International Finance Corporation, 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20433 USA.

An edited version of this article will appear in the July/August issue of The Ecologist.

Photos from protests against the planned mine  http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/news/romania_pics.htm
(by Olivia Roth and Ion Longin Popescu).

Press release from Mining Watch Canada covering this story:  http://www.miningwatch.ca/publications/Rosia_Montana_rls_110302.html

Rather patronising response to the press release from Simon Lawrence of Gabriel Resources:  http://www.mips1.net/mgjr.nsf/Current/CDCC29FB810C4FE285256B880064038D

View the company's photos and geological map of the area on  http://www.gabrielresources.com

More from Romania - the mad, bad, sad story of resistance to the planned Dracula theme park in Transylvania at  http://www.sustainable.sighisoara.com