Minvest Deva no relation 2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project
Roșia Montană Project is a proposed gold and silver mine in Roșia Montană, Romania. If approved, it would become Europe's largest open-pit gold mine and it would use the gold cyanidation mining technique. The project met with widespread protests in 2013 that indefinitely delayed the project.The project is majority-owned by Canadian mining company Gabriel Resources (with 80.46%) and by state mining company Minvest Deva (19.31%) and other minority shareholders.
Some local residents refuse to sell their properties to the Roșia Montană Gold Corporation and, in order for the project to commence, the state would need to exercise eminent domain.History
Frank Timiș, a Romanian-born Australian, founded a company, Gabriel Resources, in the Channel Island of Jersey in 1995. Timiș negotiated with the Romanian state and, in 1996, they signed a contract with state-owned Regia Autonomă a Cuprului Deva for the creation of a joint venture (Eurogold Resources) for the exploitation of auriferous residues from previous exploitations. Gabriel Resources was allowed to have 60% of the shares in the new company but, in a new protocol a year later, the Gabriel Resources stake was increased to 80%, while state's participation (through Minvest) was reduced to 18.8%, while being still allowed to exploit just around the existing mine. The company was renamed "Roșia Montană Gold Corporation" in 1999.The extraction licenses owned by state-owned Minvest Deva were transferred to the joint venture following a call by Minister of Industries Radu Berceanu in a letter that has since disappeared. Between 1999 and 2000, the operating perimeter was increased from 12 km² to 20 km² and later 42 km².In 2000, RMGC paid $20 million for a pre-feasibility study (done by American company Pincock Allen & Holt) which resulted in an estimate of 8 million ounces of gold. The company claimed to invest $250 million (raised from the stock market, banks and mutual funds) and it promised that within three years the project would create 25,000 jobs.The Social Liberal Union has drifted away from its platform prior to the parliamentary elections and the Government approved a draft law regulating the conditions of participation, passing it to the Parliament for debate. This has sparked massive spontaneous protests still ongoing (see 2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project) and the presidential candidate Crin Antonescu unexpectedly declared in a press conference that in his opinion the project should be rejected. The Prime Minister Victor Ponta has also digressed claiming that the Government has approved the bill to prevent being sued for compensations and the Parliament will definitely vote against it closing the subject. Following this development, the Gabriel Resources shares have plummeted.In November 2013 the Romanian Senat rejected the project, followed by the Chamber of Deputies in June 2014.
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