Romania
State accused of hiding data
Romanian authorities had covered up crucial documents and sacked whistle-blowing academics to please a Canadian company planning to mine gold in Transylvania, rights groups have said. Gabriel Resources hopes to extract 300 tons of gold from mountains around the village of Rosia Montana and plans to store waste in an artificial lake. Geologists have warned that faultlines would allow toxic substances to leak into the ground and accused the company of using maps from which the faults had vanished. Stefan Marincea was fired from his job as director of the Romanian Geological Institute a few days after warning about the risk. Gabriel Resources said it had “never falsified any documents”. – Sapa-AFP
Greece
Protesters fight to stop mine
More than 5 000 people took to the streets of Thessaloniki on Saturday, police said, to protest against a gold mine that has frayed relations in a northern village. Opponents of the venture in Ierissos believe it could poison groundwater in the area. Violent resistance has broken out repeatedly since permission was granted for the project in 2011. – Sapa-AFP