Rosia Montana Gold Corporation

Plans by the Canadian company Gabriel Resources to open a gold mine at Rosia Montana in Romania might be hampered by a centre-left cabinet which is to take office on Monday, analysts say.

Romania's new environment minister said Wednesday that prudence is needed during the review of a planned Canadian-owned gold mine and the process to issue a key permit cannot move faster.

Romanian president Traian Basescu pressed the nation's environment ministry Tuesday to take a rapid decision on a planned Canadian-owned gold mine at Rosia Montana, warning that much was at stake.

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Hundreds of Romanians protested on Saturday against a plan to set up Europe's biggest open-cast gold mine in a small Carpathian town, joining a wave of anti-government rallies.

Campaigners on Thursday submitted a petition to Romania's parliament signed by 100,000 opponents of plans by a Canadian company to extract gold from Rosia Montana, in Transylvania.

About a dozen people occupied a historic building in the Romanian city of Cluj on Monday to protest a plan to mine gold using the controversial cyanide process in a nearby heritage area.

On the surface, it is just one of the many picturesque villages of Transylvania, a region called Romania's "national treasure" by Britain's Prince Charles for its stunning nature.

Reducing cyanide levels in the tailings pond of a future Romanian gold mine would cost "several dozen million dollars", a manager of the Canadian company seeking to exploit it told AFP.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on Friday criticised a draft law enabling mining companies to expropriate land in Romania, fearing it would aid a controversial mine project in Transylvania.

A draft law enabling mining companies to expropriate land as they please sparked a vivid debate in Romania Tuesday, with rights groups claiming it would "spell the end of democracy".

Romanian Environment Minister Laszlo Borbely said Tuesday that a Canadian gold mine project would be given the green light only if it drops the proposed cyanide level in its tailings pond.

Romania's president said Thursday he was favourable to the Rosia Montana gold mine project led by Canada's Gabriel Resources, provided the profit split is renegotiated, the Mediafax news agency reported.

Hungary is opposed to a Canadian gold mine project in Romania using cyanide in the extraction process, Romania's environment minister said Tuesday.

Dozens of Romanians protested Tuesday against a Canadian company's plans to open a gold mine in Transylvania and called on the culture minister to resign over his support to this project.

Opponents of a Canadian gold mine project at an ancient Roman site in Transylvania threatened to sue authorities on Monday after Romania's culture ministry issued a permit for the mine.

Bucharest issued an archaeological discharge certificate for an area in northwestern Romania where a Canadian firm wants to establish a gold mine, the culture ministry said Friday.

Two major NGOs involved in the conservation of cultural heritage on Friday called on the Romanian minister of Environment not to give permit to a Canadian gold mine project.

The Romanian Academy on Wednesday urged the ministry of culture to include a former Roman site in its tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage to protect it from a Canadian gold mine project.

Opponents of a Canadian gold mine project in a Romanian village on Saturday called on the Romanian culture ministry to save a threatened ancient site in the area.

It's a rare day when a mayor balks at proposals that his town be entered on the World Heritage List next to such illustrious sites as the Taj Mahal