MEP Els de Groen spearheaded a campaign seeking to ban the use of cyanide in gold mining operations in Bulgaria and Romania. The campaign was announced at a news conference with representatives of two NGOs, Cyanide-Free Bulgaria and Cyanide-Free Romania, BTA reports.

The annual world gold output is 5,000 t of which 2,000 are produced in cyanide-based technologies. Cyanide is a highly toxic substance and contamination of the soil or air results in irreversible damage to environment. This campaign is not against gold production but against the use of cyanide, said Els de Groen.

She is on the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance in the European Parliament.

The Canadian company Dundee Precious Metals which mines gold in Bulgaria has a strong lobby in Brussels which watches closely lest its corporate interests are hurt.

Daniel Popov of Cyanide-Free Bulgaria said that use of cyanide is admissible in desert areas while the gold operations in Bulgaria and Romania are based in densely populated areas which means that many people are put to risk.

In a special press release on the issue, Els de Groen said that there are projects proposing the introduction of cyanide technologies in gold production in Bulgaria. The ones with the longest history are the two projects of Dundee Precious Metals for starting a new mine near Krumovgrad in Southeastern Bulgaria and for introducing cyanide in the already existing Chelopech mining complex in the central Balkan Range.

In Romania, a project of Rosia Montana Gold Corporation is expected to result in the largest surface mine in Europe (3,700 ha), involving the use of more than 200,000 tonnes of cyanide for extracting gold, the press release says.

In Brussels, the participants in the news conference called for a complete ban on cyanide in Bulgaria and Romania and said such ban would soon be sought for all EU member states.