Rosia Montana

The Way It Is

Gabriel Resources (GR), a Toronto-basedmining junior intends to develop a large part of Romania’s Apuseni mountains.

Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC) is a joint venture betweenGabriel Resources (80%) and Minvest S.A. (- 20%), Romania’s state mining company.

Under the agreement GR will deliver the base capital of $450mio; in exchange the Romanian government will receive a 2% gross production royalty.

GR is a Barbados registered company.

The project covers an initial 1600ha; including Rosia Montana and Corna.

Opencast mining will be developed in RosiaMontana and will cover a minimum of 722 ha.

The adjacent valley of Corna will house the tailings ‘pond’. It will cover a surface of up to 800ha. and will be held by a 185m high Dam made of waste rock. Given that both valleys are inhabited,2150 people; 740 subsistence farmers and 138 apartments will have to make way and resettle.

Mine life is at an average of 14years. During peak operation the project will employ a workforce of 248.

This is how ‘Gabriel’ advertises Rosia Montana

This is how Rosia Montana actually looks like

Rosia Montana

The Way It Is

This is Rosia Montana’s fate according to ‘Gabriel’

What does it MEAN?

But What does it MEAN?

Something like this pit but 4 of them

What’s there now?

Under Romanian law Rosia Montana is a protected valley and this because of its great cultural patrimony.

Until nationalization in 1948, Rosia Montana was a prosperous town; this because the locals had rights over the mine galleries and the gold.

Many still own these documents, Claiming that These rights are still valid and thereforecontest the Legality of ‘Gabriel’s license.

large town houses dating from the 18th & 19th

century still bear witness of Rosia Montana’sglorious past. They date from times when the locals were left free to shape their own lives.

Mining and agriculture have since time immemorial Been closely connected.

Rosia Montana is Romania’s oldest documented mining settlement; also know known by its’ Roman name ‘Alburnus Maior’.

Gold has been mined here since 2000 years and the area is littered with important archaeological remains such as temples, thermae, settlements, fortified buildings, Roman cemeteries, Roman mine galleries; to name but a few.

Whilst some of these treasures have been unearthed; more still lie beneath the surface…

Roman mine galleries of Rosia Montana’s ‘Cirnic’ Massif

Entrance into a Roman Gallery on Cirnicel

Entrance into a Roman Gallery on Cirnic’s surface

Rosia Montana’s Orlea Roman galleries

“If we are to have progress, supermarkets and apartment blocs, then we have to accept that some of the archaeological treasures will have to be destroyed.”

Andrew Kuczmarek ex-vice president and General Manager,

Gabriel Resources

This is one of Rosia Montana’s historic buildings

But it is also a home

And this is its owner

And she owns a property

She, too owns her property

And so does she

And she owns a property

And so do they…

And she owns property

And he owns more than just his bees

And they own homes… right where ‘Gabriel’ wants to build Europe’s largest open cast gold mine…

And she does

This sign reads:

This house is not for sale

They are all Gabriel Resource Rebels

And their homes are

Not for sale

There are many of them…

‘Alburnus Maior’ represents over 350 families;

opposed to Gabriel’s project on social, environmental, economic and

patrimonial grounds.

This is Othilia

She lives in a valley adjacent to Rosia Montana

She lives in a place called Corna

This is Corna Valley

This is how tailings look like

This is how a tailings pond looks like

And because ‘Gabriel’ wants to make a lot of profit, they will use cyanide.

It will end up in the tailings pond that will cover up to 800ha.

‘Gabriel’ intends cover Corna with a metal sludge like this

This is what cyanide - laced tailings can effect when they accidentally escape

Rosia Montana, 28.July 2002

Because tailings, pits and waste dumps take up a lot of space,

2150 locals will have to be ‘involuntarily resettled’and make way for Gabriel’s

Rosia Montana open-castgold mining project.

This is how ‘involuntary relocation’ looks like …

…to those who haven’t been asked

In absence of the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment and public consultations, Gabriel is

already relocating the local population.

“We are sure that eventually we can convince all of the affected population about the benefits of moving.”

Bruce Marsh, ex Gabriel Resources’ vice president

Environmental & Regulatory Affairs

Othilia’s opinion on ‘involuntary resettlement’

This is how she stopped the politicians in the first place

And she is not on her own…

Rosia Montana, 16. April 2002

Rosia Montana, 16. April 2002

Bucharest, October 2002

Bucharest, October 2003

Solidarity March; 6-11 September 2003

Bucharest, 16. June 2003

Once more, ‘Alburnus Maior’ warns ‘Gabriel Resources’ shareholders and all possible investors that this project will never take place.

And this, besides any other reason, for the simple fact that we will not sell our homes, pastures, forests, churches and cemeteries, and we will not move from Rosia Montana or Corna.

Nobody, and no money can force us out. May be you consider that we are poor people by Canadian standards, but we are not for sale, and you should understand that there are things and people that money cannot buy.

We know very well our rights, just as we know that the concessions rights obtained by RMGC are not legal, and can be suppressed at any time in a court of law.

Bucharest, 16. June 2003