A small village in Romania: Exploitation of gold from the Carpathians

The "gold rush" is shaking Australia again, and a small Romanian village with a large gold deposit is fighting with a Canadian company that simply decided to exploit the rich Transylvanian mines that could be worth tens of billions of euros in the future.

Why is Rosia Montana, a small village in western Romania with a population of only 4.000, so attractive to Canadians? Perhaps due to the fact that at the foot of his mountain he hides large stocks of the precious metal, which is a highly sought-after commodity these days, writes Le Monde.

According to the estimates of the Canadian company Gabriel Resources, which discovered this deposit, it is the largest amount of gold in Europe.

"During the next 16 years, every year we will extract an amount of gold and silver that will exceed the production of all the European Union," said Kathleen Hosu, representative of Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC).

"We have about 314 tons of gold and 1.480 tons of silver," Hosu added.

This attack on the gold of the Carpathians is not liked by many. Part of the settlement will be demolished to allow excavation, and "Alburnus Maior", an association that brings together opponents of this Canadian project, has declared open war against RMGC.

"Our fight against this Canadian company is like that between David and Goliath. David won, and so will we," said one of the locals, a retired miner.

The conflict between residents and RMGC is more than ten years old. It all started in 1997, when experts from "Gabriel Resources" came to Rosia Montana to drill the mountains in search of precious metal. The problem is not only the mining of Romanian gold, but also the fact that the Canadian company uses cyanide for this, so there are justified doubts that it could seriously harm the environment.

Everyone still remembers the accident in 2000 at the Baia Mare mine in western Romania, which was in the hands of an Australian company. Large amounts of cyanide spilled into the Danube, killing 1.200 tons of fish.

By the way, gold was discovered here 2.700 years ago. It was discovered by the Gauls, who later had to hand over the sites to the Romans. They excavated impressive underground corridors that can still be visited today.

After the Romans, the rich deposits fell into the hands of the German colonizers. They had their peak during the Austro-Hungarian monarchy until 1918 when Transylvania was finally annexed to Romania.

The company "Rosia Montana Gold Corporation" has been in this area since 1997, and owns a share of as much as 80 percent, while the rest is "generously" left to Romania.

"On average, there is 1,5 grams of gold in one ton of rock," explains Hosu.

"Our technology is based on cyanide, but we will respect European regulations on environmental protection," Hosu emphasized.

In other words, RMGC's project means the demolition of a quarter of Rosia Montana. RMGC has built a brand new neighborhood on the outskirts of the neighboring town of Alba Iulia for all those who will be moving out of their homes that stand on gold reserves. Since 2002, as many as 80 percent of residents have accepted that offer.

However, there are still small groups that promise to fight to the end and that they will not leave their home even for all the money in the world.

The financial crisis that led to the explosion of gold prices only added to the pressure on the residents of Rosia Montana: an ounce of gold was worth 2000 euros in the early 200s, and now it is worth about 1.800 euros. Gold mines in a small Transylvanian village could be worth tens of billions of euros in the future.

Of that, only a quarter belongs to Romania.

They quit their jobs and go dig for gold

As the BBC writes, on the other side of the world, in Australia, four hours' drive inland from Sydney, Kim Ellis and her husband Linz left their jobs in the city and fully devoted themselves to what was once just a hobby.

They sold everything they owned, bought a van, bikes and dogs and set off on the adventure of a lifetime, shovel in one hand and metal detector in the other. They started their business in Western Australia and New South Wales.

After this decision to completely change their lifestyle, they earned hundreds of thousands of dollars. The core of their clientele who buy the gold they mine, which they call "grey nomads", are retired people who try to increase their income by reselling.

No wonder, given that the price of gold has risen more than 25 percent since the beginning of this year.