Romania’s Chamber of Deputies rejected this week the bill that would have allowed Rosia Montana mining project to start. On Tuesday  (June 3), the deputies rejected the bill with majority of votes - 302, local news agency Agerpres reports.

A parliamentary commission tasked with revising the project rejected it in November last year. According to the report, at that time, the commission considered that the draft law doesn’t entirely meet the complex requirements for exploitation of mineral resources in Romania.

Over the years, the gold mining project at Rosia Montana, which is owned by Canadian company Gabriel Resources, has triggered many controversies. The use of cyanide and the landscape destruction brought by the project are the main concerns and reasons for criticism. Protests against the project were staged all across Romania in autumn last year.

Gabriel Resources however threatened to go to international arbitration courts to sue the Romanian Government is the project doesn’t get the green light to start. The Romanian state is also minority shareholder in the project.

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