The copper and gold mining project developed by the Canadian mining company Euro Sun Mining in the Rovina area in Hunedoara County, just shortlisted by the European Commission under the Critical Raw Material Act (CRMA), lost its environmental permit last year, and Hungary's consent is needed for getting a new one, according to Profit.ro.
The permitting process for the shortlisted extraction projects will not exceed 27 months under CRMA – but this will pose challenges in the case of the Rovina project.
The project envisages the deforestation of 200 hectares and will spread over 698.33 hectares, impacting the surface and deep waters, leading to a possible significant effect on the environment of another state, according to the environmental NGO Declic, which challenged in court the permit.
The EC adopted on March 25 a list of 47 Strategic Projects under the Critical Raw Material Act (CRMA), among which three projects are to be developed in Romania by Euro Sun Mining (Canada), Salrom (Romania, state-owned), and Verde Magnesium (backed by US private equity investor Amerocap), to boost domestic strategic raw material capacities.
The Rovina project, developed by the local company Samax Romania, controlled by Euro Sun Mining, a company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, had obtained environmental approval in 2022, but the administrative act was challenged in court by the Declic, an NGO with environmental protection activities. Last spring, the Cluj Court of Appeal decided definitively to cancel the environmental permit.
The Rovina project covers an area of approximately 27.7 square kilometers and comprises three different deposits, Rovina, Colnic, and Cireșata, which would be exploited in several phases over a period of roughly 17 years.
The final feasibility study projects an average gold equivalent production of 146,000 ounces (4.5 tonnes)/year over the first ten years, consisting of 106,000 ounces (3.3 tonnes) of gold and 19 million pounds (9,000 tonnes) of copper per year, at an average total cost of USD 790 per gold equivalent ounce.
iulian@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Mariodeambrogiomd/Dreamstime.com)
