Young Romanians March Against Canadian Gold Mining Project

Young Romanians March Against Canadian Gold Mining Project

AFP

23rd August 2004

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Bucharest - Several dozen young Romanians on Monday began a long march to show solidarity with the Rosia Montana region of central Romania, in protest against a Canadian open-air mining project there.

The youngsters, who set off from Cluj in Romania's central west region, plan to walk 130 kilometres (80 miles) over six days before arriving at Rosia Montana where a big open air concert is planned for August 28, organisers said.

Before leaving, they received a blessing from the archbishop of Cluj who assured them of the support of the Orthodox Church during a speech in the town's central square.

The project of the Canadian firm Gabriel Ressources calls for extracting 300 tons of gold and 1,700 tons of silver from a 20-square-kilometre (eight-square-mile) area.

The project will see half of the local area destroyed and some 2,000 people forced to move from their homes as well as the removal of several churches and cemeteries, opponents point out.

"All the gold in the world will not be able to replace the cemeteries and the archaeological heritage of Rosia Montana," Archbishop Bartolomeu Anania said.

Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, among others, has voiced opposition to the mining project.

The Romanian Academy has pointed to a similar project in northern Baia-Mare which provoked an ecological disaster in January 2000 when a cyanide spill polluted the Tisza and Danube Rivers, contaminating the drinking water supplies of 2.5 million people and killing an estimated 1,200 tonnes of fish.

Related Links:

FanFest Project: Romanian Music Artists join for a Benefit Concert and Solidarity March to Save Rosia Montana

The Save Rosia Montana Campaign web site: http://www.rosiamontana.org