Interesting Perspective on RomaniaI copied his from Seventh_Son on the Silicon Investor "Precious and Base Metal Investing Board":
https://www.siliconinvestor.com/stocktalk/subject.gsp?subjectid=51846
On Gabriel and Romania
This might seem off-topic for a gold-mining forum, but I'd like to describe life in Romania, the point is that Romania needs Rosia Montana.
I visited the Transylvanian region close to the Rosia Montana mine about 12 years ago after receiving an invitation from friends to visit them in the western Transylvanian city of Oradea. I don't know what has changed since then, but I imagine that it is not a great deal.
PEOPLE ARE DESPARATELY POOR
Travelling through some smaller areas by car, I noted places where many of the locals had faces literaly covered with dirt, as if they did not even have running water to wash with. In Oradea, herdsmen were bringing their totally emaciated cows into the parks in the city to eat a bit of grass because they could not afford to pay anything to feed them. A neighbor in one of the decaying high rise apartment buildings near my friends had a pig (not a pet) periodically walk out onto the balcony. When I took a trip east into the mountains closer to Rosia Montana, I was told that some of the more isolated locals traditionally have brought their daughters every year to a hilltop for what what was essentially an auction to sell to the highest bidder for marriage. And I can say quite emphatically, the very sight of just a single US dollar was enough to make shopkeepers eyes bulge and involuntary salivation to occur. In spite of this extreme poverty, I would have to rate Romanians as being very well educated, especially in math and sciences, with a level of knowledge and sophistication in the urban population that probably exceeds average Americans.
INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS DEVELOPING
Romania has a great number of beautiful old churches and historic sites that are almost totally unvisited and decaying away into nothing due to neglect and a desperate lack of infrastructure for tourists. Opposition has been expressed to Rosia Montana by some because it is a historic site that should not be disturbed. Where will the Romanian government get the money to excavate or save from destruction this or countless other historic sites in the country? Gabriel has funded a great deal of archaeological work around Rosia Montana, work that would never happen otherwise. With a bit of revenue, Transylvania could improve roads, bring historic structures back from crumbling decay, and thereby vitalize their economy with tourism.
ENVIRONMENT NEEDS CLEANUP
Communist era mining was brutal and exploitive of miners and the environment, with dangerous and polluting practices. Gabriel would fund cleanup for an area already trashed by poor mining practices (again something that would likely not be done otherwise), and bring western-style safety and respect for the environment in its Rosia Montana mine, conforming to the highest EU standards.
Gabriel has been beaten down as a stock due to misguided
attacks in the press by environmentalists and others who obviously don't see the big picture. I think that some of the locals and politicians have found it to their economic advantage to pay lip service to those who spin things in a negative manner because they stand to gain in extracting more from Gabriel in its already generous compensation. This was totally to be expected, but has discouraged investors who do not realize what a positive impact that mine will have and led them to now put a huge discount on what would be quite a profitable mine. I think that the truth is that environmentally, economically, and culturally, Romanians will greatly benefit from the mine, and in truth will not let the rare opportunity it provides to pass them by.