Baia Mare Gold Mine

The $US28 million Baia Mare facility is owned by Aurul Gold, a venture 50 percent owned by Esmeralda Exploration Limited, of Perth, Western Australia. The Romanian government owns another 45 percent of Aurul, with five percent held by another Romanian entity.

This is the first mining plant to be commissioned in Romania since the introduction of the new mining law in 1998.

The plant was commissioned in early 1999 to treat existing tailings, with the hope of recovering 480,000 ounces of gold and 2.2 million ounces of silver. Cyanide treatment is a key process in recovering gold.

February 10, 2000 (ENS) - A spill from an Australian-Romanian gold processor's facility is being blamed for widening environmental devastation in Romania and neighboring Hungary.