Băiţa locality lies in the north of Hunedoara county, at the base of Metaliferi Mountains, 25 km distant from Deva city and 24 km distant from Brad town. Băiţa commune covers 11,139 ha and includes 11 villages, totalling 3,582 inhabitants. The specific activities in the area are animal farming and agriculture. The mining area is located outside the built-up area of Barbura village, Băiţa commune, on a land with forest vegetation, pastures and meadow lands under state ownership. The exploration area lies within the NATURA 2000 site ROSPA 0132 - Special Avifauna Protection Area Metaliferi Mountains. The site is characterised by two major groups of habitat: open lands and forests. According to the analysis performed by professors of the Academy for Economic Studies in Bucharest, Gabriel Resources purchased in 1999 two projects, Bolcana and Băiţa-Crăciuneşti, holding thus 6 projects in the Golden Quadrilateral of Romania at that time: Rosia Montana, Bucium, Certej, Zlatna, Baita, Craciunesti, Bolcana. The same year Deva Gold was awarded the exploration license as operator of the Băiţa-Crăciuneşti project. In February 2000, Gabriel announced the company restructuring and the splitting of the existing project portfolio to two separate companies, Gabriel Resources and European Goldfields. The latter was allocated the Certej, Zlatna, Bolcana and Băiţa-Crăciuneşti projects. |
A gold exploration site purchased by Gabriel Resources in the NATURA 2000 site ROSPA 0132, at only 5km away from Certej mining area
Description:
Basic Data
| Name of conflict: | Baita Craciunesti Teascu gold deposit, Romania |
| Country: | Romania |
| State or province: | Hunedoara |
| Location of conflict: | Baita Craciunesti |
| Accuracy of location | HIGH (Local level) |
Source of Conflict
Project Details and Actors
| Project details | Name of mining area: area Baita Craciunesti, Teascu deposit |
| Project area: | 11,139 |
| Level of Investment for the conflictive project | 3,900,000.00 |
| Type of population | Rural |
| Affected Population: | 3,500 |
| Start of the conflict: | 30/07/2012 |
| Company names or state enterprises: | National Company for Copper, Gold and Iron - Minvest S.A. (Minvest Deva) from Romania Deva Gold SA from Romania Eldorado Gold Corporation (eldoradogold) from Canada |
| Relevant government actors: | National Agency for Mineral Resources (NAMR) Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMSC) Agency Hunedoara (Hunedoara EPA) Hunedoara County Council |
| Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available: | The Mining Watch Romania network Independent Centre for the Development of Environmental Resources Alburnus Maior Association Efectul Fluture Association |
Conflict & Mobilization
| Intensity | LATENT (no visible organising at the moment) |
| Reaction stage | PREVENTIVE resistance (precautionary phase) |
| Groups mobilizing: | Farmers Neighbours/citizens/communities |
| Forms of mobilization: | Involvement of national and international NGOs Lawsuits, court cases, judicial activism Media based activism/alternative media Objections to the EIA Public campaigns |
Impacts
| Environmental Impacts | Potential: Air pollution, Biodiversity loss (wildlife, agro-diversity), Desertification/Drought, Floods (river, coastal, mudflow), Food insecurity (crop damage), Loss of landscape/aesthetic degradation, Noise pollution, Soil contamination, Soil erosion, Deforestation and loss of vegetation cover, Groundwater pollution or depletion, Large-scale disturbance of hydro and geological systems, Reduced ecological / hydrological connectivity, Mine tailing spills |
| Other Environmental impacts | Potential significant damage to the protected area - ROSPA 0132 in the Metaliferi Mountains |
| Health Impacts | Potential: Accidents, Exposure to unknown or uncertain complex risks (radiation, etc…), Occupational disease and accidents |
| Socio-economical Impacts | Potential: Increase in Corruption/Co-optation of different actors, Displacement, Lack of work security, labour absenteeism, firings, unemployment, Loss of traditional knowledge/practices/cultures, Militarization and increased police presence, Violations of human rights, Land dispossession, Loss of landscape/sense of place |
Outcome
| Project Status | Planned (decision to go ahead eg EIA undertaken, etc) |
| Conflict outcome / response: | Corruption |
| Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?: | No |
| Briefly explain: | The National Agency for Environmental Protection accepted the EIA proposed by DEVA GOLD SA, even though it states that there is "a potential, significant impact on the protected natural area of the site ROSPA 0132 in the Metaliferi Mountains". |
Sources & Materials
| Juridical relevant texts related to the conflict (laws, legislations, EIAs, etc) |
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| References to published books, academic articles, movies or published documentaries |
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Meta information
| Contributor: | Roxana Pencea, Raluca Vestemeanu - Mining Watch Romania, [email protected] |
| Last update | 18/08/2019 |
| Conflict ID: | 1951 |
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