Residents of Rășinari, a municipality in central Romania, rejected mining in a valid local referendum on Sunday, with 2,194 votes against and 35 in favour, official electoral figures showed. The result creates a political and permitting obstacle for Mineral Proiect Invest’s proposed Valea Dobra magnesium project.
Votes against mining represented 98.43% of valid ballots. Turnout was 50.64% of registered voters, meeting the thresholds for a valid local referendum. The result gives municipal authorities a clear mandate to oppose mining, but it is consultative and does not by itself cancel concessions granted by Romania’s national authorities.
Project and approvals
Romanian-owned Mineral Proiect Invest is proposing to extract magnesium-bearing serpentinite at Valea Dobra and develop processing capacity for products including magnesium oxide and magnesium hydroxide. The company has described a modular industrial development with cumulative investment exceeding €400 million in a full build-out scenario.
The initial quarrying operation has been described as a much smaller investment. Neither that estimate nor the full-build-out figure represents a fully financed construction commitment.
Romania granted an exploitation concession in September for the Valea Dobra perimeter. Environmental authorisations, local planning decisions and other approvals are separate from the concession, and the intended site for the downstream processing facility remains under review, leaving uncertainty over where value-added production would take place.
Local opposition and project risks
Local opponents have raised concerns about the landscape, water, health and the effects of industrial development on nearby communities. Mineral Proiect Invest disputes suggestions that the project would necessarily pose an unacceptable environmental risk.
Rășinari’s mayor said he would use available legal measures to oppose the project after the referendum. The dispute could be prolonged as the developer’s concession rights intersect with local and national authority powers over land use, environmental assessments and industrial infrastructure.
A rejected municipal land arrangement could complicate site selection even if the mineral concession remains legally valid. The result also illustrates the challenge for European mineral-supply strategies seeking to combine domestic extraction with refining.
The project remains dependent on future permitting, legal decisions and an acceptable relationship with the host community, alongside its mineral potential and investment estimates.
