Project history

1996: After the State-owned mine began the restructuring process and layoffs, Gabriel Resources, a company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, Canada, showed interest in continuing the mining operations in the area.

1997: EURO GOLD RESOURCES S.A. joint venture is created, whose main shareholders are Gabriel Resources and the State-owned mining company Minvest Deva. In 2000, the Company changed its name to Roşia Montană Gold Corporation (RMGC).

1997 – 2002: The Company conducts geological exploitations to determine the quantity of existing ore.

1999: RMGC obtains the concession license for exploitation no. 47/ 1999 for the exploitation of gold and silver ores in the Roşia Montană area.

2000: With RMGC financing, archaeological research begins with the participation of the teams of specialists from the National Union Museum of Alba Iulia and the Projection Centre for the National Cultural Patrimony, to assess the archaeological and architectural potential of Roşia Montana. The Company has thus far contributed approximately US$11 million for the teams of researchers.

2001: National Research Program “Alburnus Maior” is set up by Order of the Minister of Culture. The preventive archaeological research was carried out under the scientific coordination of the National Romanian History Museum (Bucharest) and authorized by the Ministry of Culture and Religious Denominations, bringing together 21 specialized institutions from Romania and 3 from abroad.

March 2001 – present: RMCG organizes meetings (public consultations) with regional and local authorities, the locals, as well as the project opponents, to answer questions about the relocation and resettlement operations.

2002 – 2006: Drafting of feasibility studies, including studies concerning the initial conditions for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

April 2002: The General Urbanism Plan (GUP) of the Roşia Montană commune, including the mining project proposed by RMGC, is completed. The Regional Urbanism Plan for the industrial area of Roşia Montană was also completed at this time.

June 2002 – May 2004 and October 2006 – February 2008: RMGC purchases properties in the project area, based on an Action Plan for relocation and resettlement, in compliance with the World Bank and IFC standards.

May 2004: Following permanent consultations with the community, RMGC reviews the Action Plan for relocation and resettlement. Additionally, the technical aspects of the project are improved, so as to reflect the recommendations of the community and civil society.

December 2004: RMGC begins the procedure of obtaining the environmental permit by filing an application with the Alba Environmental Protection Agency on December 14^th, 2004.

May 2006: RMGC submits the EIA Report, drafted by a team of Romanian and foreign experts, to the Ministry of Environment.

July – August 2006: 16 public consultations (14 in Romania and 2 in Hungary) are held for the EIA, to present the mining project to the public and answer people’s questions. Following the information and public consultations stage, 5,600 questions were submitted by RMGC to the Ministry of Environment in January 2007.

May 2007: RMGC submits the answers to the 5,600 questions to the Ministry of Environment, a document totaling 12,600 pages and representing an Annex to the EIA Report, the final document having more than 17,000 pages.

June – August 2007: The review of the EIA Report begins; 4 meetings of the Technical Analysis Committee (TAC) held.

July 2007: RMGC begins the construction of the new neighborhood in Alba Iulia, Recea, for the families within the project development area who chose to move to the city.

September 2007: The Ministry of Environment suspends the review of the EIA Report, after only 4 TAC meetings. RMGC requests that the courts resume the TAC meetings, but the trial is pending.

May 2009: Inauguration of Recea neighborhood in Alba Iulia; 125 local families moved to their new homes in Alba Iulia.

September 2009: Roşia Montană commune is officially included in the Guinness Book of Records, as the first locality in the world with the largest number of people who simultaneously looked for gold with a buddle. The record, certified by the famous organization Guinness World Records, was registered on Miners’ Day, August 30^th, 2009. The main organizer of the event was the Mayoralty of Roşia Montană, while RMGC provided logistics and financial support.

October 2009: Since the beginning of the year, around 1,000 employment applications have been received at the RMGC Human Resources office from people within the community. At present, around 80% of the inhabitants are unemployed.

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News

18/04/2012

Rosia Montana Project goes on: Court Decision Reaffirms Urbanism Certificate 87/2010 for the Rosia Montana Project

• RMGC won 15 major trials in the last two years
• The people of Rosia Montana need steady jobs. The NGOs that oppose creation of jobs abusively burden the courts of law, by submitting legally non-grounded requests

Roșia Montană Gold Corporation (RMGC) confirms that the Alba Iulia Court of Appeal has irrevocably admitted a petition submitted by three NGOs to cancel the 2009 decision made by the Local Council of the commune of RoşiaMontană which validated the voting procedure on the general urbanism plan of the RoşiaMontană commune (PUG)

Bucharest 18 April 2012 – The Cluj Tribunal reaffirmed the validity of the Urbanism Certificate 87/2010, rejecting the initiative of some NGOs that oppose by any means the creation of jobs, in an area where 80% of the inhabitants lack steady jobs. Two non-governmental organisations, Alburnus Maior Goldsmiths’ Association and the Independent Center for Environmental Resources Development, requested the cancellation of UC87 issued for the Rosia Montana Project. In December last year, the Bucharest Tribunal rejected a similar action. Prior to that ruling, in May 2011, the Bucharest Court of Appeals also rejected a petition for the suspension of UC87. This decision marks the 15th court victory for the Project in the last two years.

Thus, Urbanism Certificate no. 87/2010 remains valid and perfectly applicable. The courts in Romania confirm this for the fourth time in the last two years, after repeated attempts from NGOs to oppose the creation of thousands of jobs in un-favored areas of the Apuseni Mountains. Both courts in Bucharest and Cluj considered non-grounded the requests for cancellation of UC issued to RMGC.

Dragos Tanase, Managing Director of RMGC, stated:

“This court decision is another victory for the local community on its way to a better future and to creating thousands of jobs, much needed in that area. Over the past few years, RMGC has won 15 major trials, most filed by NGOs, who are fighting against job creation and economic development in Romania. Significant progress in the EIA evaluation gives us hope for a conclusion as quickly as possible, in the benefit of local community, cultural patrimony and sustainable development of the area. Today, a responsible mining project can only be developed in full compliance with the Romanian and European legislation, using the best available practices. Once approved, Rosia Montana project will contribute about 1% to Romania’s GDP and will generate thousands of jobs,” declares Dragoş Tănase, Managing Director RMGC.

Based on a gold price of 900 dollars/ounce, Rosia Montana mining project directly brings over 4 billion dollars to the Romanian economy, which will result in a total potential contribution to the GDP of Romania of 19 billion USD, including the multiplier effects, according to the 2010 estimates of the British experts from Oxford Policy Management. Gold price currently amounts to approx. 1600 USD/ ounce. The project will also generate thousands of jobs, will comply with the Romanian and European environmental legislation and will contribute 140 million USD to the preservation and valorization of the cultural heritage from Rosia Montana and Romania.

For further information on this press release, please contact:
Cătălin Hosu, Regional Communication Manager, 0729.399.130/ catalin.hosu@rmgc.ro.

Experts' opinion

Dennis Rodwell:“The proposal from a number of cultural foundations to list Rosia Montana as World Heritage is contrary to UNESCO guidelines and has no merit,” says British architect Dennis G. Rodwell, UNESCO consultant and ICOMOS member, in a report presented in November 2010.

Terry Mudder, Wordlwide No. 1 cyanide expert:"There are numerous baseless reports on the alleged risks of cyanide. The fear of cyanide has been used to generate a negative reaction of the public opinion, although this technology has been used for over a century in hundreds of mines.”