Romania: Gold mining to relocate hundreds and cut two mountains in half.
Rosia Montana, an ancient settlement, tucked away in a remote valley South of Cluj-Napoca in Romania is being subjected to renewed pressures from international mining companies and the Romanian government.
There are massive environmental and human health concerns with this practice of mining all over the world.
Here in Rosia, if the mines go ahead, they are set to destroy and detrimentally pollute one of few globally significant World Heritage Sites, vast swathes of natural forest, a water source that has fed the rich pastoral and agricultural lands for generations, the local community will be displaced and torn apart, and seemingly the profits and revenue will disappear along with the jobs after the termination of this project.
The local opponents of this venture are devastated, and have been left helpless, with little choice but to be subject to compulsory relocation.
Today there are very few actual pure gold seams left in the world, therefore the gold that exists is contained within massive amounts of other hard rock. To obtain the gold dust it is crushed and sieved through a cyanide sink full of a concoction of other chemicals for its extraction.
The average ratio of gold extracted to waste crushed rock is around 1g per ton. The waste rock creates it's own issues as it is formed into a toxic cyanide paste containing these chemicals. Companies often scour out enormous lakes to fill them with this toxic slurry and let the waste sit to filter itself. Often this leachate flows into the local rivers, through the groundwater and into the drinking water, over the agricultural fields from this process contaminating the whole area for decades, even centuries. The water cannot be used, either can the land and the residents are left with a toxic environment after the gold and it's royalties have left with the mining company, in this case a multimillion dollar Canadian company- Gabriel Resources.
Socioeconomically, the local community, and often in gold mining situations, the whole country where the mining has taken place, are left devoid of any benefit. Jobs are often not suited to manual labor in these poor and undereducated communities. Workers are outsourced and those that are from the local or surrounding areas create huge internal divides between towns and even within families.
The short term profit, both locally and nationally is minimal compared to the long term degradation of the environment; physically, ecologically, aesthetically, socially and economically.
Revenue from the gold mining activity invariably evades being used for bettering the local community, and even often escapes the clutches of local or national government where the royalties are minimal and the multinational companies profits are exorbitant. In the Rosia Montana case, the venture is a completely external company all but a tiny fraction of profits leaving the country.
Their plan is to remove the remaining 2 whole mountain tops of the small valley where the Rosia Montana village is nestled. The community has been fighting for many years for this no to go ahead, but as gold prices globally soar, companies are exploring more and more areas. Corruption within government has allowed the mining exploration to be granted it's necessary leases, now it is up to the people to make or break the decision to set precedent to this age old debate that could see many parts of Romania stripped of its natural beauty for short term profit.
To find out more, to donate or to get involved, please visit http://rosiamontana.org/en
