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"European parliament bans cyanide leaching in EU gold mines,” rejoices Evenimentul Zilei the day after Brussels passed a resolution to that end. MEPs are also exhorting the Commission to "propose a blanket ban on the use of cyanide in mining by the end of 2011" as the only way to protect against this highly toxic substance. The resolution was tabled by Romanian MEPs who look back in horror at the Baia Mare ecological disaster in 2000, which contaminated the drinking water for three million people in Romania and Hungary. It just so happens that the very day of the parliamentary vote, the Romanian government authorised construction work to begin on what is to be the biggest gold mine in Europe, Rosia Montana – where cyanide leaching is to be used to extract the precious metal. "The government needs to understand it is directly concerned by the resolution and stop its efforts to carry out the Rosia Montana project,” urges MEP Renate Weber.
A conversation with investigative reporters Stefano Valentino and Giorgio Michalopoulos, who have dissected the dark underbelly of green finance for Voxeurop and won several awards for their work.
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