By Charlotte McDonald-Gibson
The Independent (UK)
Romania’s Prime Minister has conceded that his efforts to end a 14-year deadlock and open Europe’s biggest goldmine were likely to fail, after the project provoked nationwide protests against the use of cyanide in the Transylvanian mountains.
The government had argued that the project — by the Canadian mining company, Gabriel Resources — could bring billions in revenue to one of the EU’s poorest countries. But they faced outrage from environmentalists and a public wary of the mining industry after a 2000 cyanide spill at a Romanian gold mine released toxic mud and water into three countries.
Gabriel Resources had first raised the possibility of blasting open four mountains to create the gold and silver mine in the late 1990s, but plans had been thwarted by vocal opposition.