Romanian President Traian Basescu said that gold, silver and copper mines in Romania must be reopened in order to create new jobs in  2012.

“We have underground resources like gold, silver, copper, which should be exploited. We can create jobs there. If 5 years ago these mines were subsidized by the state, because of the worldwide prices growth of the three metals, we can now exploit in a profitable way the mines that have been closed,” said Traian Basescu.

The president of the National Agency for Mineral Resources (ANMR), Alexandru Patruti, has recently said that according to the companies’ estimation Romania’s gold reserves reach about 700 tonnes, while silver resources are estimated at 2,000 tonnes.

For a full list of Romania's mines closed or set to be closed, go here.

President Basescu was also the public figure that re-started high level  talks about the Rosia Montana Gold Corporation project in Romania, by recently expressing public support for the project.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Romanian presidency)