Canadian firm loses UNESCO gold mining case against Romania

A Canadian mining company has lost an arbitration case against Romania after it blocked a gold mining project at a site now recognised by UNESCO, Bucharest announced.

Canadian firm Gabriel Resources had sought up to $6.7 billion in damages from the Romanian government for pausing the development near the village of Rosia Montana in the Carpathians, home to 2,000-year-old Roman mining galleries UNESCO added to its World Heritage List in 2021.

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a World Bank arbitration panel, rejected Gabriel Resources' claims for damages in a ruling published Friday by the Romanian government.

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu hailed the decision in a statement on Facebook, appearing to take a swipe at previous governments that supported the project.

"Romanians must not suffer because of the decisions of some prime ministers who put their personal interests above national interests!" he wrote.

Gabriel Resources said it "strongly disagrees with the decision, which is entirely inconsistent with any objective assessment of the evidence presented" and said it was lookin g at all legal options, including appealing the ruling.

Dragos Tanase, CEO of Gabriel Resources said: "Gabriel's shareholders invested hundreds of millions of dollars to deliver a transformational mining project that would have brought very significant social and financial benefits to the Romanian people.

"We regret that Romania, its economy and its citizens, have missed the opportunity to benefit from this mining project."

'Sustained failure'

The company was granted a licence to mine for gold in the area in 1999, but the project was put on hold in 2013 after nationwide protests sparked by en vironmental concerns.

In 2016, Romania declared Rosia Montana a site of historical interest, granting it protection from mining activity.

In its complaint registered with ICSID, Gabriel Resources accused the Romanian government of "a sustained failure to act in administrative proceedings despite there being an obligation to act".

The company also said Romania didn't offer compensation after halting the project.

Government spokesman Mihai Constantin said prior to the decision that Romania wanted to "minimise" any "budgetary and social impact" for the eastern European country.

The local community had been split over the gold mining project, with some welcoming the potential economic opportunities and others worrying about the environmental impact.