Roșia Montană is a town in Alba County, located in the Apuseni Mountains of western Transylvania, Romania. It is found in the Valea Roșiei valley, where the small river Roșia Montană flows. The town includes sixteen villages: Bălmoșești, Blidești, Bunta, Cărpiniș, Coasta Henții, Corna, Curături, Dăroaia, Gârda-Bărbulești, Gura Roșiei, Iacobești, Ignățești, Roșia Montană, Șoal, Țarina, and Vârtop.

The area has rich mineral resources that have been mined since Roman times or earlier. A state-owned gold mine closed in late 2006 before Romania joined the European Union. A Canadian company, Gabriel Resources, plans to open a new mine. This has raised concerns about protecting ancient Roman mining sites and avoiding pollution similar to a past incident in Baia Mare. Others believe mining could help the local economy, which is poor and underdeveloped.

The campaign against the new mine was one of the biggest protests in Romania in the past 20 years. Many organizations, including Greenpeace and the Romanian Academy, opposed the project. After nationwide protests in 2013, the Chamber of Deputies voted to stop the mine in 2014. In 2015, the Ministry of Culture declared Roșia Montană a historic site of national importance. This means no industrial activities are allowed in the area.

History

Archaeological and metalworking evidence shows that gold mining in the "Golden Quadrilateral" of Transylvania began during the late Stone Age. The community, called Alburnus Maior, was established by the Romans during the time of Emperor Trajan as a mining town, with settlers from South Dalmatia. The first written record of the town appears on a wax tablet dated February 6, 131. Archaeologists have found ancient homes, burial sites, mine tunnels, mining tools, 25 wax tablets, and many Greek and Latin inscriptions near Carpeni Hill. The Romans left Dacia in 271.

Mining likely began again during the Middle Ages by German (Transylvanian Saxon) migrants, who used methods similar to the Romans. This continued until the destructive wars of the mid-16th century.

Mining expanded significantly under the Austrian Empire, with support from the imperial government. Emperor Charles VI funded the building of ponds (tăuri) in 1733. After the empire ended in 1918, most remaining gold veins were mined by local citizens through fixed-length agreements. Waste containing sulfur created large amounts of sulfuric acid (a process called acid mine drainage), which released heavy metals into local water sources, along with mercury used to extract gold.

In 1948, the mines were taken over by the Romanian government. Traditional small-scale underground mining continued until the late 1960s. Later, attention shifted to low-grade gold found in the rock around the veins. In 1975, an open-pit mine was built at Cetate for large-scale mining. This mine, operated by Roșiamin (a company owned by Regia Autonomă a Cuprului din Deva), provided 775 jobs, most of the region’s employment. Ore was processed at Gura Roșiei and extracted using cyanide at Baia de Arieș. The mine required $3 million in yearly subsidies by 2004 and was closed in 2006 before Romania joined the European Union.

• Jug discovered in Alburnus Maior – Roman burial site Tăul Secuilor / Pârâul Porcului, tomb M. 112 (Roșia Montană, Alba county, Romania), 2nd century AD, Bucharest, National Museum of Romanian History (Inv. 334369).
• Game pieces from Alburnus Maior – Roman burial site Pârâul Porcului-Tăul Secuilor, tomb M.6 (Roșia Montană, Alba county, Romania), 2nd century AD, Bucharest, National Museum of Romanian History (Inv. 382084-382114).
• Amber figurine, one of the few surviving works by the “Master of the Aquileia Eros,” an unknown artist. Found in Alburnus Maior – Burial site Pârâul Porcului / Tăul Secuilor (Roșia Montană, Alba county, Romania), 1st–2nd century AD, Bucharest, National Museum of Romanian History (Inv. 358809).

Mining project

The Project began in 1995 with a deal between RAC Deva and Frank Timiș, a businessman from Romania and Australia, to process leftover materials from the Roșia Montană area. Later, the mining license for an area of 23.8823 square kilometers (9.2210 square miles) around Roșia Montană was transferred to the Roșia Montană Gold Corporation (RMGC) from Minvest Deva SA, which replaced RAC Deva. RMGC is owned by a Canadian company, Gabriel Resources, which holds 80% of the shares, and the Romanian government, which owns 19.3% through Minvest.

RMGC plans to produce 225 tonnes of gold and 819 tonnes of silver over 17 years. This would require digging in a large area, creating four mining pits covering 205 hectares (510 acres). The first two pits would be at the old mining sites of Cirnic and Cetate, and the next two would be at Jig and Orlea in a later phase. Up to 250 million tonnes of tailings containing cyanide would be stored in a pond covering 363 hectares (900 acres) in the Corna Valley, behind a dam 185 meters high.

RMGC did not receive full approval for the project. Permits granted by state authorities were later canceled by courts after environmental groups appealed. The environmental impact assessment began in 2004, but final approval was still being considered.

The company started buying homes in the city, but about 100 residents refused to sell. These residents, supported by environmentalists, architects, archaeologists, and lawyers, fought the company and government in court. Their main concerns include the environmental risks of using cyanide to extract gold (as Romania experienced a cyanide spill in Baia Mare in 2000) and the destruction of ancient Roman sites in Roșia Montană.

Opposition to the project grew after a 2003 report by the Romanian Academy recommended stopping all cyanide mining in the area. Later, the Romanian Orthodox Church, Romanian Catholic Church, and Romanian Unitarian Church all opposed the project. Large organizations like Greenpeace and political groups such as the European Federation of Green Parties also opposed it.

In August 2005, the Canadian government supported Gabriel Resources’ project. In October 2005, Hungary’s Environment Minister said the Hungarian government strongly opposed the project, as Hungarian Historic Churches are concerned about threats to monuments and churches that are part of Hungary’s cultural heritage.

In 2013, the Victor Ponta government proposed a new law to allow the project by bypassing environmental and heritage rules. This led to protests across Romania. In November 2013, the Senate rejected a draft law that would have allowed the mining project to proceed. A parliamentary commission had earlier said the law’s wording was unclear and suggested creating a new law for large-scale mining projects. Despite the rejection, Gabriel Resources said the decision was "a first step in defining the next phase of developing Roșia Montană."

FânFest festival

Since 2004, every August, several nonprofit groups in Roșia Montană have held a free music festival to support the Save Roșia Montană campaign. The event, called "FânFest" (which means "hay" in Romanian), has included performances by well-known Romanian musicians such as Ada Milea, Luna Amară, Shukar Collective, Timpuri Noi, Sarmalele Reci, Vița de Vie, and from the Republic of Moldova, Zdob și Zdub. All performers give their time for free to help the campaign and to celebrate different cultures and music styles.

The three-day festival includes many activities, such as music, art, environmental projects, and outdoor events. Workshops are also available for visitors to join. The main stage has performances in genres like rock, jazz, folk, reggae, and world music. In 2006, a special area called the "Alternative Activity" tent added theatre, dance, video shows, and other cultural and social events.

In 2005, about 10,000 people attended the festival, and in 2006, the number grew to 15,000 visitors.