Aurul SA is a stock company jointly owned by Esmeralda, Exploration Limited, Australia, and Remin, Romania. Over a seven-year period, Aurul obtained all of the necessary environmental permits required under Romanian law for its plant in Baia Mare, before beginning operations in May 1999. It was hoped that the Aurul project would meet the needs of both the Romanian authorities and the Australian investors. Aurul would gain profits through its mining operations and local authorities would benefit from Aurul’s management and removal of Baia Mare’s old contaminated ponds, which blocked further development in the city.
(Source: http://www.kitsapsun.com)
The process and technologies used at the Baia Mare plant for recovering precious metals were completely new to Romania and were expected to be the most modern, safe and efficient in the region and a major environmental improvement. The Baia Mare plant was designed to process 2.5 million tonnes of tailings per year - to recover about 1.6 tonnes of gold and 9 tonnes of silver per year. The project was to last 10 to 12 years, although this may increase due to recent business deals made with Romanian companies.
