ROMANIA: Digging Gold With a Cyanide Lining – IPS ipsnews.net

Digging Gold With a Cyanide Lining
By Claudia Ciobanu

Activists seek to block access to the Rosia Montana Gold Corporation offices in Bucharest. Credit:Greenpeace

The Fight continues for a free environment

BUCHAREST, Jul 16, 2010 (IPS) – Canadian company Gabriel Resources has managed to resurrect a cyanide-based gold exploitation project which had been declared illegal in courts, and is opposed by most Romanians.

May this year, a resolution voted by the European Parliament gave  hope to Romanian activists: the European Parliament asked for the complete banning of cyanide-based mining across the continent. The parliament pointed out that cyanide is a highly toxic chemical qualifying as a main pollutant under the EU Water Framework Directive and that „cyanide mining provides few jobs, and only for a period of eight-16 years, while it runs the risk of causing enormous cross-border damage, the cost of which is usually not met by the responsible operating companies.

„While the resolution of the European Parliament is an important political decision, the reaction of the Commission is decisive,” Franziska Keller, a Green MEP from Germany told IPS. „Mr. Potocnik’s reaction is short-sighted and not in line with his commitment to resource efficiency. He has opted for the destructive path of primary mining of gold instead of leading the way to a far more environmentally friendly – and most likely more job intensive – recycling society.”

ROMANIA: Digging Gold With a Cyanide Lining – IPS ipsnews.net.