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Gallery|Environment

Rosia Montana: Seeds of utopia in town almost lost to gold mining

Hope and unease in fertile Romanian village, six years after protests halted plans for Europe’s largest gold mine.

Gold mining has altered both the geographical and socio-cultural landscape of Ro?ia Montana for the past two millennia.
Gold mining has altered both the geographical and sociocultural landscape of Rosia Montana for the past two millennia. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
By Claudia Ciobanu and Mihai Stoica
Published On 24 Apr 2019

Transylvania, Romania – In 2013, Rosia Montana was almost destroyed to make way for a gold mine – plans that continue to haunt the village which sits in the Apuseni Mountains of western Transylvania.

Six years ago, Gabriel Resources, a Canadian company, came close to destroying “red mountain” to build Europe’s largest gold mine.

Tens of thousands of people protested weekly for months in a row to defend the commune, eventually forcing the government halt plans to build the mine, but the company did not give up.

In 2015, it sued Romania before of the ICSID, the World Bank arbitration court, asking for a reported four billion dollars in damages.

At the time, Gabriel Resources had already purchased much property in the village; only those determined to fight until the end stayed.

While the arbitration case advanced out of public sight in Washington, new people started moving into Rosia.

Activists, architects, artists and free spirits can now be found here creating a new kind of community, one based on neighbourly cooperation.

In 2017, riding the wave of public sympathy for Rosia Montana, a technocratic government submitted an application to UNESCO to make it a World Heritage Site. The village has a history of two millennia and it hosts Roman mining galleries and architecture spanning centuries.

Even as UNESCO indicated the village was likely to get international protection, Romania’s new Social-Democratic government withdrew the application in 2018.

Activists feared this meant Romania was gearing up to cut a deal with the company.

Today, Rosia Montana is in limbo.

People who want to renovate buildings or start businesses say they struggle to get permits as the mine might still go ahead.

Yet the local community is flourishing.

Fashionable youngsters, bikers and herbal medicine aficionados co-exist alongside retired miners, village priests and peasants, in a throwback to the multiethnic, multi-faith past of Rosia Montana.

This motley society has its shared myths, forged in the years battling the mining plan, and a common vision for the future.

Rosia has a strong international brand, they say, and the village is ready for reconstruction.

Corina Suteu, Romania’s former minister of culture, said missing out on the UNESCO stamp could hinder restructuring efforts and hold the area back from becoming a rich tourist hub and ecological site.

Earlier this year, in a move that has alarmed the local community and activists, the Romanian government proposed a draft mining law which would make it easy to grant new permits for the mine previously denied by national authorities or courts.

“The new law is a confirmation and a first physical step towards a settlement and the still possible go-ahead for the mine,” said Stephanie Roth, an activist who received the Goldman Environmental Prize for campaigning against the mine.

Suteu added: “What is certain is that this region continues to be protected by national law.

“Any attempts to reverse this protection are not in line with the national interest and a public agenda of protecting patrimony.”

Mining activities throughout different time periods have made the entrails of the mountains surrounding Ro?ia look like Swiss cheese, as some locals describe it. Tens of kilometers of galleries belong
Mining activities throughout different time periods have made the entrails of the mountains surrounding Rosia look like Swiss cheese, as some locals describe it. Tens of kilometres of galleries belonging to different periods make up the bulk of the unique heritage. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
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Mining runoff is very much a reality in Ro?ia Montana, even after the mining activity has grinded to a halt. Rain and underground water wash off mining galleries and open-pit mines and the water trick
Mining runoff is very much a reality in Rosia Montana, even after the mining activity ground to a halt. Rain and underground water wash off mining galleries and open-pit mines. The water trickles down the mountain and into the water circuit. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
A local guide for the state museum in Ro?ia holds up a replica of a Roman wax tablet found in the Roman galleries. The particularity of the tablets, as opposed to others found across the range of the
A local guide for the state museum in Rosia holds up a replica of unique Roman wax tablets found in the Roman galleries. As opposed to others found across the range of the Roman empire, they were in such good shape that they could still be read after more than a millennium. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
Some houses have been rented or bought by people moving in from outside Ro?ia Montana, after many of the locals moved out or sold their properties following the bid of RMGC to clear the area and mine
Some houses have been rented or bought by people moving in from outside Rosia Montana, after many of the locals moved out or sold their properties following the bid to clear the area and mine gold and silver. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
New arrivals are rekindling the hope of those left that Ro?ia Montana can have a different future from the one ascribed to it by the mining company wanting to exploit what''s left of the gold and silve
New arrivals are rekindling the hope of those who remained that Rosia Montana can have a different future. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
RMGC put a lot of pressure on locals to sell their property. Houses and land were sold at above market rates, some locals were given apartments in the city and even relative’s graves were moved on the
Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC) pressured locals to sell their property. Houses and land were sold at above market rates, the company built apartment blocks in the city of Alba Iulia for some of the locals, and even relatives' graves were moved on the company's expense. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
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The rush of some to gain as much as possible from the company’s interest in the land around Ro?ia Montana, meant that in one area, people bought small plots of land and quickly build houses in order t
The rush to profit from the company's interest saw some people buy small plots of land and quickly build houses to lift prices for when the company moved in to negotiate. But the project ground to a halt and the company never bought these houses, turning the area into something resembling an abandoned film set. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
Ro?ia is not yet seen as a tourist destination without the UNESCO World Heritage mark and the few local tourism businesses that exist, are trying to show visitors what the town has to offer and organi
Without the UNESCO World Heritage mark, Rosia is not yet seen as a tourist destination. The few local tourism businesses that exist try to show visitors what the town has to offer and organise guided tours. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
Constantin Zainea has bought a house in Ro?ia Montana, together with his wife, an architect. They were both involved in the fight against the mining project. Now they are living and working in the cit
Constantin Zainea has bought a house in Rosia Montana, together with his wife, an architect. They were both involved in the fight against the mining project. Now they live and work in the city of Cluj-Napoca, two hours away. They plan to move in once the house is ready. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
Not many people arrive nowadays in Ro?ia, but when the weather gets warmer tourists are coming. The town is rather remote and not easily accessible through public transport.
When the weather gets warmer, tourism picks up. The town is somewhat remote and not easily accessible by public transport. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
Gold mining has left an imprint on the town, which many see as an opportunity to preserve as an UNESCO World Heritage site.
Gold mining has left an imprint on the town, which many say is a good reason to be recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
Gabriela Jurca owns one of the shops in Ro?ia Montana and still gets to spend time with her nephews, but she has either lost friends or they have left left Ro?ia during the years when the company was
Gabriela Jurca owns one of the shops in Rosia Montana, but many of her friends left when the company was active. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
Luiza (left) is attending school in a town nearby and has recently joined the local scouts chapter. Bogdan (right) is just finishing high-school and wants to move away and study architecture. He sees
Luiza, left, attends school in Rosia and has recently joined the local scouts chapter. Bogdan, right, has almost finished high school and wants to move away and study architecture. He sees no future for Rosia Montana. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
Niculina Jeflea is a pensioner and is also working with a local business to knit all sorts of woolen clothing, which are then sold online. She feels uncertainty about the future, but is confident that
Niculina Jeflea, a pensioner, works with a local business to knit all woollen clothing, which is then sold online. She feels uncertain about the future and hopes the mining project does not go ahead. In this scenario, she says, local people can live in peace and enjoy what nature has to offer, while running small businesses and responsible tourism. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
Historically, the town had seven confessions. Arpad Palfi, priest of the Unitarian Church for 42 years running, still comes here every Sunday to ring the church bells and call church members who have
Historically, the town had five religious denominations. Arpad Palfi, priest of the Unitarian Church for 42 years, still comes here every Sunday to ring the church bells and call church members who have left the town. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]
Dorin Rus, former mine engineer and an extraordinarily knowledgeable guide to the state mine’s museum and galleries, says that his only interest lies in salvaging the extraordinary archeological herit
Dorin Rus, former mine engineer and a knowledgeable guide to the state mine’s museum and galleries, says that his only interest lies in salvaging the extraordinary archaeological heritage of Rosia Montana. But, he adds, that he has lost hope that Rosia Montana might have any future at all. [Mihai Stoica/Al Jazeera]