Stretching over seven kilometres, these gold mines dating from the second and third centuries represent the Roman mining complex “the largest, largest and most varied known in the world”, according to UNESCO.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis hailed this decision, taken at the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Fuzhou, China. “Rosia Montana can become a model of heritage enhancement“, wrote the Romanian president on his Facebook account.
This site has “regained the place it deserves, it is the result of 25 years of effort” deployed by civil society, welcomed Sorin Jurca, a resident committed to its preservation, to AFP.
A heritage threatened by a Canadian company
Discovered on site, wooden waxed tablets bearing engraved texts and dating from the same period “offer an authentic picture of the daily life and cultural practice of this ancient mining community”, he added. But these galleries are “vulnerable“warned the UN agency, calling on the Romanian government to protect them and “not to issue
mining permit” on this site.
A Canadian company, Gabriel Resources, which has held a mining concession there since 1999, planned to raze four massifs and use large quantities of cyanide to extract 300 tonnes of gold and 1,600 tonnes of silver.
Under the pressure of a major mobilization, successive governments have refused to issue the agreement that is essential for the start of the works. Evoking a “expropriation“, Gabriel Resources requested international arbitration in 2015 and claimed $4.4 billion in damages from Romania.
While the verdict is expected in 2022, the company, contacted by AFP, did not rule out launching new legal action following the classification of the site by Unesco.
Application for World Heritage Listing “contravenes Romania’s obligations under international treaties in its relationship with Gabriel Resources”, the company said in a statement on Tuesday, assuring that its mining project would have “generated enormous economic benefits” for this country.
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