Bucharest Gives Euro Sun the Thumbs Up for Rovina

Canadian mining company Euro Sun (TSX:ESM) has announced that it’s received an exploitation and mining permit for its Rovina copper-gold project in Romania.

In a Monday (November 12) announcement, Euro Sun said that the Prime Minister of Romania had signed off on the project last week, in a move seen by the company as a huge milestone for the formerly communist eastern European country.

“The importance of this ratification cannot be overstated,” said the chairman of Euro Sun, Stan Bharti.

Bharti added that Romania “has now demonstrated an open and willing embrace for mining investment, one that is sure to attract significant interest not only in the Rovina Valley project but for mining investment globally in Romania.”

President and CEO of Euro Sun, G. Scott Moore, congratulated the Romanian government for approving the project, which he said was “the first non-state-owned entity to have a ratified mining license.”

“[Euro Sun is] committed to developing the Rovina Valley Project as an example of responsible mining to the highest environmental standards, and in the process, provide meaningful economic impact to our local community partners and to the Romanian state.”

Rovina is described by Euro Sun as one of the largest mineral deposits in the European Union, with a measured and indicated resource of 7.2 million ounces of gold and 1.4 billion pounds of copper.

The metals are contained with 406 million tonnes of ore across three deposits, grading 0.55 grams per tonne of gold, and 0.16 percent copper.

According to the company’s preliminary economic assessment released in 2010, a fully-operational Rovina mine with a lifespan of 19 years would produce 196,000 ounces of gold and 49.4 million pounds of copper annually.

With the mining permit in hand, Euro Sun now has the task of completing an environmental and social impact assessment, and is also in the process of working on a feasibility study that will inform the company on whether it should proceed with construction.

In Toronto, Euro Sun’s share price spiked at the news on Monday, rising to C$1.21 from a previous close of C$0.60.

By Tuesday (November 13), the company’s share value was down to C$0.89 — still almost 50 percent higher than its value at the end of last week.

Earlier this year, Euro Sun had teamed up with fellow Canadian miner Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN) to have a run at Nevsun Resources (TSX:NSU)—yet another Canadian— which is the current owner of the Timok project in Serbia and the operating Bisha mine in Eritrea.

Euro Sun was blasted by Nevsun as an unworthy suitor at the time, and eventually quietly disappeared from the negotiations as Lundin had its own crack at woo’ing Nevsun solo before being outbid by a pile of Chinese money.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Scott Tibballs, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.