New anti-gold mine protest downtown Bucharest brings thousands to red-green leaf logo flash mob

The protests against the Rosia Montana gold mining project continued last weekend, more than seven weeks after the movement began. In the seventh consecutive Sunday of peaceful protests, around 3,000 people again took to the streets of Bucharest. The protest included a flash mob in front of the Romanian Government, in which the red-green leaf, logo of the Save Rosia Montana campaign was created by the protesters who placed red and green sheets of paper above their heads. The protesters also blocked the Universitate Square in the center of the Romanian capital, chanting slogans such as 'Rosia Montana – the Revolution of our generation' and 'get out of your houses if you care', or 'United we save Rosia Montana', among others. A large-size banner with drawings of politicians Traian Băsescu, Victor Ponta, Rovana Plumb, Dan Şova, Daniel Barbu, Kelemen Hunor, Laszlo Borbely, Radu Berceanu and Adriean Videanu was also on display. Underneath their pictures, the protesters had written: “The fraternity of cyanide – politicians: Gabriel & Associates,” referring to the name of the company which is trying to build the gold mine, the Canadian firm Gabriel Resources. The use of cyanide to extract gold and silver and the danger it poses to the environment are among the main complains of protesters in Romania and across the world, who are opposing this project. Protesters have been asking the Parliament to reject the law allowing Gabriel Resources to pursue its gold mining project, where the Romanian state also has a minority stake. Protests started after the Government approved the project at end of August, and sent it to the Parliament for a final decision. Members of a special Parliament commission for this project will this week start debating the project and the law, after hearing arguments for and against the project in the previous weeks. Gabriel, the majority owner of Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC) has owned the Rosia Montana mining license for 15 years, although environmental campaigners have so far blocked its attempts to create Europe’s biggest open cut mine on the site. RMGC, about 20 percent owned by the Romanian State, plans to use cyanide leeching technology to mine the minerals, which critics say will create too great of an environmental hazard. The plans, which need to be approved by the Romanian Parliament, would also see significant excavation at the site, which is home to ancient Roman galleries, old churches and hundreds of families, many of whom have already been relocated. Supported by miners living in the area, the company says its project will bring money and jobs to Romania. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Uniti Salvam on Facebook)