Controversial New Report Challenges Dangerous Myths Created By Western Environmentalists About Romanian Gold Mine

A new report [1] published today attacks the high profile campaign against a new gold mine in Romania for being ‘’based on half truths and lies’’. Ten Golden Myths is the report of a major investigation into one of the most controversial projects in Europe.

Unlike many of the commentators involved, freelance journalist Kirk Leech traveled to Rosia Montana to discover the truth behind the mine and investigated the story put forward by environmentalists.

Based on interviews with local communities and extensive research in the village where the mine is to be opened, the report finds that the majority of locals want the gold mine. In the recent mayoral elections, the incumbent mayor - who supports the mine - was re-elected with a near 90% majority. Candidates openly opposed to the mine polled less than 10%.

"Due to lazy journalism and cynicism about big corporations, there is a media embargo taking place in Romania right now. The wishes of the local population who desperately want the mine are being ignored and the outlook of a handful of fundamentalist environmentalists - who want to stop development at any cost and who have no problem subverting the truth - are the only voices that are being heard," Leech states.

The campaign against the mine promotes a romantic and idealised view of the traditional lifestyles of the community. A "lifestyle" says Leech "that includes over 70 percent unemployment; average income levels just one-third the national average – with over one in ten surviving on the equivalent of 85p per day. Two-thirds of local people have no running water and rely on an outside toilet in winters where the temperature can plummet to minus 25 degrees Centigrade below zero."

Leech sensationally suggests that almost every argument against the mine is either misleading or downright inaccurate.

Leech argues, "What is presented as a David and Goliath story – Gabriel Resources, a Canadian mining company opening a mine that will pollute the environment and forcibly resettle defenceless locals before destroying a pristine wilderness - turns out to be nothing of the sort. Rosia Montana, a village with over 2000 years of mining is an area already heavily polluted. [2]

Leech believes that "The mine project is perhaps the last chance for a village that is being rapidly de-populated and maybe gives those who have left something to come back to" and added, “I hope people who have been mis-informed over the reality of Rosia Montana will read my findings or download the podcast version: the people of Rosia Montana deserve better than the lies being peddled about their village.”

About the author:

Whether the issue is a Dam in China, a New mine in Romania, or the creation of a Wildlife Sanctuary at the expense of local peoples needs in India, Kirk Leech has a sharp eye for the tensions between the quest for economic freedom and self-styled “progressive” movement that tends to get in freedom’s way. A freelance journalist, broadcaster, researcher and Adjunct Fellow with the U.S.-based International Freedom Education Foundation (IFEF), Kirk lives in the UK and can be contacted on kirkleech@goldenmyths.com.

Kirk will be raising issues from his research at the Battle of Ideas, a major weekend festival of debates taking place in London, 28-29th October 2006.