The historic site of Roșia Montană, a gold mining site dating back to the period of the Roman Empire, was included on UNESCO’s world heritage list.

The site was also added to the list of world heritage in danger.

🔴 BREAKING!

Just inscribed on the @UNESCO #WorldHeritage List & World Heritage in Danger List: Roșia Montană Mining Landscape, #Romania 🇷🇴.

ℹ️ https://t.co/X7SWIos7D9 #44WHC pic.twitter.com/w0vTZAyxOa

— UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳😷 (@UNESCO) July 27, 2021

In September 2016, Roşia Montană was included on the tentative list of sites to be considered for the UNESCO World Heritage inscription. Two years later, the World Heritage Committee decided to defer the inclusion of the Roșia Montană mining site in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The decision came as Romania’s Government requested “the deferral, not the withdrawal of the file” until the lawsuit the country had with the Canadian mining company Gabriel Resources was settled.

In 1999, the Canadian company won a license to exploit the mining site at Roșia Montană. The Romanian state blocked the gold mining project following massive street protests, and the company took the case at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington. It asked for damages of USD 4.4 billion for the blocking of the mining project.

At the beginning of last year, culture ministry Bogdan Gheorghiu announced the Government was planning to restart the process of including Roşia Montană in the UNESCO heritage. 

Rosia Montana gold mining project in the spotlight before UNESCO decision

(Photo: Radu Salcudean/ courtesy of Institutul Național al Patrimoniului)

simona@romania-insider.com