The true cost of gold is much higher than what you pay for a piece of jewelry. You would have to add the social and environmental costs associated to gold mining; costs that you don't pay when you buy a piece of gold. Gold mining is one of the dirtiest industries across the world; mining leaves irreversible traces that harm habitats and people’s quality of life and destroys the landscape leaving open craters and a moon-like terrain. If one were to add all social, environmental costs to the extraction of gold, then gold mining would become economically unfeasible.

Reading this section should make you wonder whether the price you pay for one gram of gold is worth the damage and the suffering that it produces. One fact you should know from the beginning: 80% of the gold produced worldwide is used to manufacture jewelry, simple ornaments that do not state progress, but mere social status in a consumer society.

Learn more about Rosia Montanaand what is proposed

Click here to access a Fact Sheet summarizing the mine's characteristics and the campaign's dynamics.
Click here to download a short presentation explaining the Rosia Montana mine proposal, its' impact and the reasons for the opposition.

Why should you care about Rosia Montana?
- Rosia Montana is home for more than 950 families (over 2500 people).
- In Rosia Montana were discovered in 1870 the wax tablets, one of the main sources of Roman law.
- Rosia Montana is one of the oldest attested settlements in Romania. Rosia Montana hosts over 7 Km of perfectly preserved roman and pre-roman mining galleries.

Why should you care about what happens in Rosia Montana?
- Gold mining is now one of the dirtiest industries in the world. In countries like Peru, Ghana, Indonesia it has destroyed local economies by mono-industrialization, caused generalized health issues for the population, poisoned water flows, contaminated agricultural fields and human rights abuses by i.e. forced relocations.
- Despite the huge profits made by companies in the mining and jewelry industry, the losses caused by environmental disasters are generally not covered. A piece of jewelry is normally sold at four times the value of the gold.
- The mining technique proposed at Rosia Montana, the cyanide leaching, is extremely risky and harmful for both the environment and human health; one tea spoon with a 2% cyanide solution is lethal for humans.
- Accidents and spills in the mining industry are quite frequent. In Europe the largest mining accident occurred at Baia Mare, Romania in 200. 99 000 cubic meters of waste were spilled causing Europe’s largest environmental disaster after Chernobyl. Biologists subsequently stated that it will take more than 5 years for the animal life to recover and 10 to 20 years for the whole environment to come back to the previous state.
- Instead of becoming Europe's largest open cast cyanide mine, Rosia Montana could easily become an UNESCO heritage site due to its unique archeological and cultural patrimony.