Romanian students protest Europe’s largest gold mine

Romanian students plan to protest a proposed gold mine in Romania that could level whole villages and blast away mountain tops.

The protest group, Bloomington for Rosia Montana, is meeting 6 p.m. Friday at the Sample Gates, joining a worldwide network of demonstrations.

The demonstrations, centered in Bucharest, Romania, are meant to draw attention to the proposed mine, which would use cyanide to extract more than 1 million pounds of gold in Rosia Montana, Romania.

The Romanian government passed draft legislation of the proposal last week.

Alexandra Cotofana, an IU graduate student studying anthropology, said the proposal allows the mine’s developer, Rosia Montana Gold Corporation, to leave behind a lake of cyanide solution, develop more than 3,000 acres of wilderness and evict citizens blocking the mine.

She said the proposal will likely pass another legislative test next week, furthering it along the path to full legalization.

“There are people in Rosia Montana who don’t want to leave,” Cotofana said. “We want the people in Romania to know they have support all over the world.”

Follow reporter Gage Bentley on Twitter @gagebentley.