Hungary demands Romania stop Canadian-led gold mine development
Published:
13 October 2004 y., Wednesday
Hungary's parliament said Tuesday that the European Union should ensure that Romania halts a Canadian-led gold and silver mine project that Hungary regards as a serious environmental threat.
"Hungary's biggest chance to stop the development is now," said Bela Turi-Kovacs, chairman of Hungary's environmental committee.
Romania hopes to join the EU in 2007, and Turi-Kovacs said the environmental segment of the entry negotiations should not be closed until Romania pledges to stop the mine, 80 per cent owned by Gabriel Resources Ltd. of Toronto.
The rest of the Rosia Mountain Gold Corp. is owned by a Romanian state-owned enterprise, Minvest S.A., although Gabriel (TSX:GBU) funds 100 per cent of the development costs.
Hungary is worried that the mine at Rosia Montana, 190 kilometres east of its border, could cause a repeat of environmental catastrophes in 2000, when two Romanian mines spewed cyanide, lead, copper and zinc into waters feeding Hungarian rivers.
In one of those incidents, cyanide-laced water leaked from a reservoir at an Australian-owned gold mine into the Tisza River, a tributary of the Danube, killing much of its aquatic life.
The $400-million-US Rosia Montana open-pit mine would also use cyanide to extract gold from some 13 million tons of ore a year.
Šaltinis:
Canadian Press
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
An aviation agreement has been signed today by the European Union and the Vietnamese authorities which will remove nationality restrictions in the bilateral air services agreements between EU Member States and Vietnam.
more »
The European Investment Bank marked the 50th anniversary of the Republic of Cyprus and its 30 years of activity in the country with a public ceremony celebrating the signature of a total of EUR 180 million for urban environment.
more »
In response to the financial crisis, the Commission has put forward legislative proposals to strengthen and expand existing tools for coordinating economic and fiscal policy in the EU.
more »
In the first meeting of the SME Finance Forum, possible means to improve the current situation of access to finance were discussed, such as the introduction of a grace period for firms in difficulties, the involvement of credit mediators and improved loan guarantees.
more »
The EU budget is no simple matter, but then no budget ever is.
more »
Parliament will be crucial in avoiding a “lowest common denominator” approach when helping to design the EU's new economic governance architecture, ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet told the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on Monday.
more »
With a multitude of language-related events taking place on or around 26 September, the main themes for this year's European Day of Languages are business and jobs.
more »
The EU disbursed today € 1.15 billion to Romania, the third instalment of a € 5 billion loan, which was agreed in May 2009 as part of a multilateral financial assistance package.
more »
The European Investment Bank has agreed to lend GBP250 million for the replacement, reinforcement and expansion of the gas distribution networks operated by Scotland Gas Networks and Southern Gas Networks.
more »
The bargaining positions of all players in the human food chain must be rebalanced, and fair competition enforced by law, to ensure fair returns to farmers and price transparency to consumers, says Parliament in a resolution voted on Tuesday.
more »