By Luiza Ilie and Radu Marinas
Reuters
BUCHAREST — A special Romanian parliamentary commission overwhelmingly rejected a draft bill that would allow Canada’s Gabriel Resources to set up Europe’s biggest open-cast gold mine in the Carpathian mountains.
Gabriel has been waiting 14 years for approval to use cyanide to mine about 314 tonnes of gold and 1,500 tonnes of silver in the town of Rosia Montana in Transylvania. The state also holds a minority stake in the mine.
The draft, which triggered countrywide protests against the mine with weekly protests staged in the capital Bucharest and some other cities, prompted the government in September to set up a commission to assess the bill.