Possible compensation for not pushing ahead with the project will be decided by Canada’s Gabriel Resources, which holds 80.69% in a joint-venture developing the gold mining project, Ponta added.
According to the prime minister, the government will declassify all documents on the Rosia Montana investment since 1999 and the mining project will be halted if it is rejected by Parliament.
Gabriel Resources said Monday it would assess all possible actions, including legal proceedings, if the project was rejected before debate by the two chambers of the Romanian Parliament.
On Tuesday, the Senate’s committees for legal matters and environment protection rejected the project. The Senate’s economic committee has yet to adopt a report on the bill before the normative act is sent to the Parliament plenum for a vote.
Ponta said earlier Monday the only solution to the gold mining project in Rosia Montana is for the plan to be rejected with urgency by the Senate and then by the Chamber of Deputies. Also, Senate chairman and Liberal Party leader Crin Antonescu said the gold mining project should be rejected, adding that the voice of the people weighs more than technical data.
Ample protests have been staged in Bucharest after the Government adopted a bill allowing the opening of a massive opencast gold mine in Rosia Montana. The gold mining project has been on and off for the past 14 years because of environmental concerns entailed by cyanide mining.
Following Romanian authorities’ statements, the shares of Gabriel Resources, which is listed in Toronto, fell to a minimum of 0.43 Canadian dollars per unit Monday afternoon, down 70% from CAD1.1 in the morning session.
The company closed down 54% Monday, at CAD0.68 ($0.65).
On Tuesday at about 05:50 p.m., local time, Gabriel Resources was down 13.2%, at CAD0.59 ($0.57).