Gabriel Resources

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One thing is certain: Gabriel Resources Limited is leaving its mark on a regional community by providing jobs, local trade and an economic future with its world class mine.

Gabriel Resources Limited was originally founded by a Romanian who fled to Australia in the 1980s only to return in 1995, after Communism had ended, to look for opportunities in the mining field. Romania is a country with a rich mining history, mostly done with dated technology. Having spent time observing how mining is done in Australia, the founder, who prefers to go unnamed, brought modern technology into the mining field in his home country.

Today, Gabriel Resources Ltd. is a Canadian-based resource company committed to responsible mining and sustainable development in the communities in which it operates. Gabriel is currently engaged in the exploration and development of mineral properties in Romania, with its primary focus on the development of its 80.46 percent-owned Rosia Montana gold project. The origin of the company’s name is believed to come from the founder’s wife.

Over the years, in most countries, the mining sector has moved to bulk tonnage and various processing means, which would have been viewed as ‘uneconomical’ in a period of Communism. “I think what the founder came in with was the concept that by applying modern exploration and exploitation techniques there might be an opportunity for discoveries and build mines in Romania,” explains Richard Young, vice-president and chief financial officer at Gabriel.

In the mid-1990s, Gabriel Resources signed partnership agreements to explore primarily in the country. While there are many other companies actively exploring in the country, Gabriel has primarily focused its exploration in Romania. One of its main projects is the Rosia Montana Project.  “The mine that was designed at the site is much larger in terms of its mining and processing rate, more so than anything seen in Romania, and the technology used to transport, use and destroy cyanide is something that hasn’t been present in Romania,” explains Young.

“Historically, Gabriel hasn’t had to differentiate itself from others, but we hope, with our design and making it a model mine that we’ve done in working with the community, that we will be a natural partner for other projects that get explored and built. We certainly look forward to taking the social license we’ve got at Rosia Montana and replicating that again in the country as the company moves forward in the future,” says Young. Ultimately, the goal is to replicate Rosia Montana’s best practices in other sites.

Navigating through challenges to help community and protect environment

With its efforts to buy regional first and employ locals, Gabriel Resources says sustainable development “is critical” to its operations and longevity as a business. It has worked with community networks to provide job retraining as one of the biggest employers in the county. “We also help small businesses get started and then, as we move forward with the construction of Rosia Montana operation, we brought in an NGO to assist us with trying to ensure that the benefits of building a world class mine are realized by local citizens,” says Young.

Although Romania has a rich history in mining, historically there haven’t been measures in place to protect the environment.

“Romanians in general believe mining is dirty and it causes environmental damage and that is an issue we’ve had to overcome, because modern mines built today have very high standards. We work very hard to eliminate any environmental impacts to the region,” he continues.

In addition to this challenge, there has been a great deal of political instability since Romania has joined the E.U. “During this period, there have been a number of elections, so it’s been difficult for any of these government to focus on any of the larger development projects such as ours,” he tells. When the new coalition was formed last December, however, the government announced one of its priorities was to move Gabriel’s projects forward. “We’re encouraged by that and have a good working relationship and hope the permitting process starts soon,” he adds.

Though little reported outside the Balkans, Gabriel’s flagship operation, Rosia Montana project, is a matter of intense controversy in Romania and in neighboring Hungary. Much of the debate centers on the need to use cyanide to extract pure gold from the low-density widely distributed ore—a method commonly used in over 400 gold mines around the globe, including a majority of mines currently operating in Europe.

In the case of Rosia Montana, the environmental concerns are real. The hills, valleys and rivers of Rosia Montana are in deplorable and dangerous condition—riddled with arsenic, zinc and iron well above legal limits, caused by acid rock drainage from two millennia of mining. The Romanian Government has designated the area as a “Disadvantaged Zone” due to the high unemployment.

Meanwhile, Gabriel has made efforts to protect the environment. “Mining, by definition, is temporary. So we’re very focused on our rehabilitation program to return the area to its former self; the goal is when we leave within a few years, you won’t be to tell there was ever a mining operation in that community,” explains Young. “On the community side, we’re working to build infrastructure and skill sets that the region can continue to live at that standard as they have during the time the project has been in operation,” he adds.

The Rosia Montana Project

Gabriel continues to work closely with local communities, regional and federal governments, financial institutions and non-government organizations to ensure that the development and operation of the Rosia Montana gold mine meets or exceeds all national and international social and environmental regulations.

The Rosia Montana Project is located within the Golden Quadrilateral, which is situated within the Apuseni and Metaliferi Mountains of Transylvania, Romania and covers an area of approximately 900 square kilometres immediately to the north of the city of Deva.

Rosia Montana is a small village in the mountains of western Romania, and the site of gold deposits believed to be the largest in all of Europe. The area has been mined for at least two millennia, from the time of Caesar to the days of Ceausescu, and owes its name, “red mountain” to the streams of water turned red from toxic runoff produced by 2,000 years of under-funded/uncontrolled gold mining. Today, Gabriel Resources has a highly educated team of 200 hard workers with a Romanian-run management team leading the operation. “We work very hard to expose them to world class mines so all of our team members have had opportunities to observe and learn because growing up in Romania. Previously, they haven’t been exposed to that,” explains Young, adding the emphasis is on responsible mining.

The Rosia Montana Project, owned through a joint venture with the Romanian Government, contains reserves of 10.1 million ounces of gold and 47.6 million ounces of silver. Currently, measured and indicated resources stand at 14.6 million ounces of gold annual and 64.9 million ounces of silver in addition to inferred resources of 1.2 million ounces of gold and 3 million ounces of silver. “It will probably first quartile producer and it’s be a wonderful world class asset,” says Young. The project is estimated to produce 626,000 ounces of gold annually during its first five years of operation at an estimated total cash cost of US$272 per ounce, and an average of 500,000 ounces per year over its 16 year mine life averaging US$335 per ounce. 

Looking on to the future, Gabriel has its sights on its other gold project just the valley over from the Rosa Montana site. “We have suspended our current work on that program until Rosia Montana is permanent but we’ve got a very attract gold deposit there that needs further drilling,” tells Young. “Beyond that we’ve got a very prospective property that we’ve been exploring for a few years and have applications in for three additional properties,” he says. For now, key milestones begin with the restarting of the permitting process. Once the paperwork is in order, proper financing will be in place and 24-month construction process of the mine will begin.

Working hard over the years to build a pipeline of projects in Romania, Gabriel Resources will no doubt leave its mark on this regional community with its sustainable development efforts.

www.gabrielresources.com