Title: Canadian Mining Companies in Rosia Montana, Romania
1. The Change you want to explain
a) Where and when did the change occur?
The change occurred in Rosia Montana, Romania. The fight back against the Canadian mining company, Gabriel Resources, has been ongoing for nearly a two decades.
b) What people, institutions, +/or parts of the natural environment were supposed to change?
Many people want to see an end to the mining project in Rosia Montana, or that it is downsized or see the benefits to the inhabitants of Rosia Montana improved. Other demands include the banning of dangerous cyanide mining practices and a reduction in the size of mines.
c) What was the scale of the intended change?
The scale of the intended change was limited
…show more content…
A significant portion of the Romanian public supported the residents of Rosia Montana in their fight against Gabriel Resources and the expansion of mines.
c) Which (if any) actors opposed the change?
Gabriel Resources: Gabriel Resources is a resource company focused on permitting and developing controversial Rosia Montana gold and silver project located in Rosia Montana.
Some people within Rosia Montana wanted to have Gabriel Resources buy out their land. Along with these inhabitants of Rosia Montana, who hoped to reap the economic benefits of mining in the region, various Romanian government officials, the Canadian government and some of the Romanian public hoped to see the mine project go forward.
3. The Process or Pathway of Change
Identify and briefly describe the main stages in the process of change, in the order that they occurred:
Gabriel Resources, a small & inexperienced company, started exploration in Romania in 1997 & acquired a Romanian mining license in 1999. Canada’s ambassador & Canadian officials lobby Romanian gov’t for this & other mining projects.
In 2010, a private member’s Bill C-300 on corporate accountability of oil and mining companies in developing countries defeated in House of
...plete report. Before this was done the mine blew up. In the end, the news story that broke was focused on union campaign contributions and not on mine safety.
The tar creek mining site originally was owned by a Native American tribe, the Quapaw. The Quapaw wanted to keep these lands, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs deemed members opposing a transaction to mining companies “incompetent” (1). In such a case the business could continue and the Bureau of Indian Affairs sold the lands to mining companies. In essence these lands were stolen from the Quapaw because they were ripe for mining. These mines were then used from approximately 1891 to 1970. In the 79 years the mines were open 1.7 million metric tons (~3.75 billion pounds) of lead and 8.8 million metric tons (~19.4 billion pounds) of zinc were withdrawn from the mine (2). The entire area around Tar Creek is known as the tri-state mining area. This tri-state area was a massive source of metals. This area accounted for 35% of the all worldwide metal for a decade. It also provided the majority of metals the United States used in World wars I and II (3).
By 1873, gold was discovered at a time of desperation for the United States. The Black Hills in Lakota territory was abundantly filled with it. The fact that the gold was located in the Great Sioux Reservation mattered not. The U.S. government was going to mine the gold regardless of the consequences. They were desperate and greedy. Their first attempt to gain access was to buy the Black Hills from the Sioux. The Sioux clearly objected and most of the peoples told the government it was not for sale. Those who were agreeable to the sale of this gold rich land asked a higher price than the government was prepared to pay. The government's second attempt and ultimate victory was much more nefarious in nature.
Sylva, Seville A. A Thesis-Foreigners in the California Gold Rush. California: University of Southern California. 1932.
To the northeast part of Arizona lay a conflict between two indigenous groups from the surrounding area and the world’s largest coal company formerly known as Peabody Coal (now Peabody Energy). The Hopi and Navajo reservations surround a region known as Black Mesa. Black Mesa is located on both the Navajo and Hopi Reservations which is a target source for underground water called the N-aquifer. The N-aquifer contains a great amount of pristine Ice Age water. As time drew on, many indigenous people were alarmed that the water was carelessly being depleted from their land. Mining on Black Mesa should be stopped because the inhabitants are affected by Peabody, livestock in the area must depend on the local springs, groundwater is being depleted at an average of 3.3 million gallons per day, and the water is being contaminated (SBMW Online par 1).
"Nevada Mining Through the Great Depression and World War 2." Nevada Mining Association. N.p., 9 Feb. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
I oppose the development of the Chu molybdenum mine because its negative effects extend beyond the site. This mine will affect the quality of life of the residents of Vanderhoof adversely by reducing air and water quality, food sources and revenue. Vanderhoof is a small, geographic centre that supplies food and mineral resources to neighboring cities (BCC, 2009) hence, many of its residents, tourists and neighbors will be directly affected by this project.
Colorado also has a rich mining history which began in about 1859 with the discovery of gold and development of new reserves, Colorado’s present day industry is a modern, innovative, safe and environmentally responsible citizen that extracts a wide variety of minerals such as; gold, Marble, and gypsum from the earth, valued at more than $2 billion each year. (Colorado Mining Association, 2007)
It is believe that these rocks came from as far away as 1,400 miles! But we don’t know what the local people at poverty point traded in exchange for their rocks.
Mining in the Canadian Shield is an issue which should not be taken lightly. Many Canadians are concerned as to how the minerals are mined
A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry. Many of the Americans dreamed of striking it rich. In 1849 the California Gold rush made that possible for a lot of the dreamers. A lot of people gave up after several years of trying to find nuggets of gold because it wasn’t as glamorous as they thought or hoped it would be. Mining was miserable you get up really early and leave really late at night. The conditions were nasty, there were rats everywhere and it was very dangerous. The miners were mainly scared of the mine caving in but also scared of the gas exploding. They were also really lonely and homesick. To really understand
Solomon, J (2013). Corporate Governance and Accountability. 4th ed. Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. p.7, p9, p10, p15, p58, p60, p253.
eager for more land. After 20 long years of war the Messenians were forced to
The proposal for coal mining project might be very deceiving, since it yields very huge revenue for the country. It creates employment opportunities for the people in the mining area. But coal mining pose a great threat to the civilization in the mining area.
Warhurst, A. (1999). Mining and the environment: case studies from the Americas. Ottawa, ON, Canada: International Development Research Centre.