Romania wins legal battle against a Canadian miner over failed plans to open a gold mine

A man wears a one dollar bill on a miner's helmet painted in gold color in Bucharest, Romania, Sept. 21, 2013, during a protest against the exploitation of gold by by Gabriel Resources, a Canadian mining company, at Rosia Montana, the site of ancient Roman mining galleries in a mountainous western Romanian region and home to Europe's largest gold deposits. The Romanian government has won a years-long legal dispute with a Canadian mining company seeking financial damages over failed plans to open a gold and silver mine in the Eastern European country. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)

Protesters, one wearing a mask and holding a poster that reads "The revolution starts from Rosia Montana," sit on the pavement, blocking the traffic, in front of the Romanian parliament in Bucharest, Oct. 20, 2013, during a protest against the exploitation of gold by by Gabriel Resources, a Canadian mining company, at Rosia Montana, the site of ancient Roman mining galleries in a mountainous western Romanian region and home to Europe's largest gold deposits. The Romanian government has won a years-long legal dispute with a Canadian mining company seeking financial damages over failed plans to open a gold and silver mine in the Eastern European country. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)

Romanian soccer fans hold banners that read: "We Save Rosia Montana", during the World Cup Group D qualifying soccer match between Romania and Hungary in Bucharest, Romania, Sept. 6, 2013, to protest against the exploitation of gold by Gabriel Resources, a Canadian mining company, at Rosia Montana, the site of ancient Roman mining galleries in a mountainous western Romanian region and home to Europe's largest gold deposits. The Romanian government has won a years-long legal dispute with a Canadian mining company seeking financial damages over failed plans to open a gold and silver mine in the Eastern European country. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The Romanian government has won a yearslong legal dispute with a Canadian mining company seeking damages over failed plans to open a gold and silver mine in the Eastern European country.

Gabriel Resources was seeking $4.4 billion (4 billion euros) in damages from the Romanian state, which owned a 20% stake in the mining project in Rosia Montana, a mountainous western region that contains some of Europe’s largest gold deposits. The Romanian government withdrew its support for the project in 2014.

The government said that the ruling late Friday by the Washington-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ordered Gabriel Resources to reimburse its legal costs for the arbitration case the Canadian miner launched in 2015.

Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said it would have been unfair for Romanian citizens to be burdened with high costs a loss would have incurred. “I thank the team of lawyers who represented Romania with professionalism,” he said after the ruling.

The decision came 25 years after Gabriel Resources gained concession rights for the mining project that planned to extract gold and silver over a 16-year period. It would have involved razing four mountain tops, displacing hundreds of families and leaving behind a waste lake containing cyanide, a toxic chemical used in the process of gold extraction.

The project drew strong opposition from environmental and civic activists who helped organize protests that drew tens of thousands of people to Romania’s streets in 2013. Gabriel Resources said the project would have provided jobs in an area where employment opportunities are scarce.

Rosia Montana is also home to ancient Roman mining galleries, which were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 2021.