Romania wins legal battle over planned Canadian gold mine [Video]

BUCHAREST, Romania –

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 US$4.4 billion (four billion euros) in damages from the Romanian state, which owned a 20 per cent 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.

• Download the CTV News App for breaking news alerts and video on all the top stories

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 …