Romania hit by $4.4-billion damage claim over stalled gold mine project

A Toronto-listed mining company is claiming $4.4 billion in damages from Romania at the World Bank's arbitration tribunal, accusing Bucharest of unfairly blocking its $2 billion project to create one of Europe's biggest gold mines and expropriating its assets.

Gabriel Resources won a licence in 1999 to exploit the Rosia Montana gold and silver deposits in Transylvania, but was never granted the necessary permits. The company says it has complied with all necessary Romanian and European Union legal requirements.

Environmental groups and local campaign groups have fought a bitter battle against the mining plan, saying it would destroy a region of natural beauty and damage historic mine workings dating from Roman times.

Some of the biggest street protests since the Communist era broke out in Romania in 2013 after the then socialist-liberal coalition sent a draft law to parliament giving the go-ahead to the project. An incoming socialist government in January this year asked Unesco to grant world heritage status to Rosia Montana -- which would end any chance of developing the mine. ...

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