A golden opportunity for Romania?

As Romania celebrates becoming part of the European Union, at least one corner of the country is still struggling to join the modern world. People living in Rosia Montana, a small town in the mountains of western Romania, have an average income of €1.50 a day. Most homes have no running water and only outside toilets, and they are heated only by wood.

The settlement of Rosia Montana was founded by the Romans in the first century AD. Since then, it has been controlled by various foreign powers, including Austria and Germany, before Romania’s 20th-century Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaus¸escu. But it has taken a modern clash between industry and environmentalists to bring Rosia Montana to the attention of the world.

International investors believe the people of Rosia Montana, despite their pitifully small income, might be harbouring treasure. The Rosia Montana hills have been mined since the days of the Roman emperor Trajan and, according to Gabriel Resources, a Canadian mining company, the hills probably still contain the largest gold deposits in Europe.

The company says that expanding a mine at Rosia Montana would create 1,200 jobs, in an area where unemployment stands at more than 70%. It has proposed a joint venture, with the Romanian state taking a 20% stake, which it says would provide direct employment for 700 people, with up to 7,000 more working in the shops, restaurants and accommodation needed around the mine.

But two years ago Gabriel Resources ran into green opposition. Members of the European Parliament said the mine had the potential to cause irreversible environmental damage to the area.

Campaigners and MEPs recalled the pollution caused in February 2000 by an accident at the Baia Mare gold and silver mine, operated by Aurul, a joint Australian and Romanian venture. A spill of cyanide, copper and other heavy metals contaminated 2,000 kilometres of the Danube’s catchment area before running into the Black Sea.

MEPs were so alarmed at the prospect of creating Europe’s largest open-cast gold and silver mine that they encouraged the European Commission to make it a precondition of Romania’s entry into the EU that the mining plans should comply with Union legislation.

Gabriel Resources argues that the plans do comply with EU norms. Now that Romania has joined the EU, the company is waiting for the go-ahead from the Romanian government.

Alan Hill, Gabriel Resources’ president, says the new mine would actually improve environmental conditions in Rosia Montana, after decades of mismanagement and pollution under Ceaus¸escu. "This is a mine to clean up a mess," he says.

He adds that the people of Rosia Montana are subsistence-level farmers, struggling to grow vegetables in acidic soil. The fields are too hilly for ploughing and people rarely have enough land for more than one cow.

"These people have no future apart from mining. We are offering a new village and work to those who want to stay," Hill says. His company has offered to buy houses at well above their market value for anyone who wants to leave.

In a documentary filmed last September, former journalist Phelim McAleer, made a critique of environmentalism, using interviews with people from Rosia Montana. ‘Mine Your Own Business’ accused conservationists of campaigning to keep some of the world’s poorest people in poverty "because they think their way of life is quaint".

But another former journalist is leading environmental opposition to Gabriel Resources. Stéphanie Roth, a Swiss-French activist, has turned herself into the public face of green lobby group Albernus Maior (the Roman name for Rosia Montana).

She claims that the project is still "absolutely not" in line with EU law, including the landfill, habitats and groundwater directives.

She also rejects the Gabriel Resources claim to have support from at least 90% of the people in Rosia Montana. "No one supports the mining project. They would just like to have a job."

There are alternative ways out of poverty for the people of Rosia Montana, according to Roth. "Now that Romania is part of the EU, Rosia Montana has a good future in supports for farming initiatives under the Common Agricultural Policy [CAP] and in tourism."

She argues that, with help, the cattle and goats of Rosia Montana could be a good source of food for the town and beyond, and partnerships with Italian universities would help this corner of Romania to showcase its Roman heritage.

In 2000 the Roman mines at Rosia Montana were declared a ‘protected patrimonial site’.

Roth argues that EU structural funds for rural development could help the people of Rosia Montana, adding: "This money is a very good catalyst for the area."

With a decision from the Romanian government on whether to give permission for the mine’s development now anxiously awaited, both sides are stepping up their campaigns.

Last week (24 January) saw the premiere of ‘Mine Your Own Business’ at the UK National Geographic Society.

Alburnus Maior and other green activists turned down invitations to attend, comparing the film, which was part-financed by Gabriel Resources, to "Nazi propaganda".

But Frayda Levy, president of the Moving Picture Institute, accused the environmentalists of "breathtaking narrow-mindedness".

Gabriel Resources and Alburnus Maior both claim to have support from almost 100% of the Rosia Montana citizens. All of which leaves the citizens wondering what will happen next.

As Romania celebrates becoming part of the European Union, at least one corner of the country is still struggling to join the modern world. People living in Rosia Montana, a small town in the mountains of western Romania, have an average income of €1.50 a day. Most homes have no running water and only outside toilets, and they are heated only by wood.