The Road to Democracy

Romania was beggared during the autocratic rule of the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in the 70s and 80s and after his violent overthrow in 1989 struggled to become a truly democratic nation throughout the nineties.

During this period economic stability and growth declined due to an out of date and non-competitive industrial base and infrastructure.

From 2000 onward the economy picked up rapidly to a GDP of over 8% in 2004, one of the highest in Europe and despite a set back due to bad weather affecting agriculture in 2005 is expected to continue to remain healthy and unemployment to remain low.

Government in Romania is shared between a popularly elected President and by a Prime Minister nominated by the President after consultation with the majority party in parliament. If no party holds an overall majority the President will consult with all the parliamentary parties.

The Prime Minister appoints other members of the government. Parliament has two chambers whose members are elected under the proportional representation system.

Romania joined the NATO alliance in 2004 and is due to join the EU in January 2007. There are unconfirmed reports that graft and corruption remains prevalent at all levels although it is also believed that tentative steps are being taken to tackle the problem.

The Rosia Montana Mining Project

Rosia Montana is an attractive valley located in the Apuseni Mountains of West Central Romania in the County of Alba.

The Rosia River flows through the Valley. It is the site of the oldest documented settlement in Romania and mining in the locality dates back to Roman times. The area is rich in archaeological findings.

It is reported that the area is estimated to hold the largest deposits of gold and silver in Europe.

Over 10 million ounces of gold and 47 million ounces of silver in proven and probable reserves with indications of many more millions of ounces of both metals possibly recoverable.

The Rosia Montana Gold Corporation is a joint venture between a Romanian state owned company, Minvest and Gabriel Resources (TSX:GBU), a Canadian company, with no mining experience, that holds 80% of the issued shares. Newmont Mining (NTSE:NEM) a major US miner owns 10.8% of Gabriel Resources.

The extraction procedure will use the gold cyanidation process and is expected to consist of carving four open pit mines in the valley and damning a neighboring valley with a 180 metre high wall to form a six square kilometre cyanide storage lake.

Before the mining project starts 2100 people will have to be moved from an area of 42 sq. kilometres, ten churches and nine hundred houses will be destroyed.

The pollution of the area caused by the use of cyanide will be devastating and will last for many years.

There is also a precedent when a cyanide pond used in another mining project in Romania sprang a leak in 2000 and caused disastrous pollution to the rivers Danube and Tisza resulting in the water supply of two million people becoming contaminated and the death of over a thousand tons of fish.

To further cloud the issue there are unconfirmed reports that Gabriel Resources founder and chairman, Frank Timis, does not enjoy the cleanest of records with the authorities.

There is a large, vociferous and influential environmental lobby actively opposing the Rosia Montana project as well as some Romanian government departments and officials in the anti camp.

Have a look at the many websites giving the pros and cons.

A further influence on the outcome is the attitude of the EU who may well block the project as a condition of Romania joining the common market in January 2007.

Those in favor of the project have also produced strong arguments to support their view amongst which is the poverty and decline of the area and the improvement in standards the displaced population can expect.

The venture is due to receive a decision from the Romanian Government, which has a vested interest, albeit likely to be relatively small, by the end of 2006.

This is a speculative play that is wide open. If the project goes ahead there is likely to be a substantial short-term gain to take advantage of, if it is rejected then being short could pay off.

Either way this is an exciting and interesting scenario that is coming to a head and in our opinion well worth the trouble and time to fully research.

Good hunting!