The usage of cyanides has been a contentious issue, especially due to the fears of spillage into rivers and the groundwater. This fear was augmented by the precedent of another gold mining company in Romania, which similarly promised a state-of-the-art, self-contained, environmental-friendly project, having a dam burst (see 2000 Baia Mare cyanide spill) and the cyanide-laced water of the tailings pond flowed into the Danube, leading to one of Europe's biggest environmental disasters.