Mineritul aurifer în Munții Apuseni între Marea Unire și Naționalizare (1918-1948). Repere istorice – minele de la Stănija
Gold Mining in the Apuseni Mountains Between the Great Union and the Nationalisation (1918-1948). Historical Landmarks – The Stănija Mines

Summary/Abstract: Gold exploitation in the Apuseni Mountains represented the main occupation of the people from the area since ancient times, the extraction of the precious metal making its mark on the evolution of the respective communities. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the extraction and processing of gold ores in Transylvania was performed by small or big mine owners, mining associations and societies, all based on Hungarian, German and Austrian capital. Only after the 1st of December 1918, gold exploitation was allowed for Romanian capital enterprises, companies and societies. Therefore, mining societies were founded that largely contributed to the economic, social and cultural development of the Apuseni Mountains area, but also to the financial and investing capacities of Romania. We are naming here the “Mica” Society (“Mica” annually reached around 60% of Romania’s gold production), the Gold Mines “Albini-Stănija”, the “Pyrit” Association, the “Mines d’or de Stănija” Society, and the “Saint George Șuluțiu” Association (Fig. 1-13).“Mica” Society bought from Iulus Albini the mines he had previously owned at Stănija in 1908-1923. A decade later, the Stănija mines were sold through a contract between the “Mica” Society and the “Pyrit” Association, on the one side, and the “Mines d’or de Stănija” French Society, on the other side. The president of the “Mines d’or de Stănija” Society was designated by the investors in the person of Ane Marie Barral (licensed in natural sciences at the Sorbonne University). The “Mica” Society held concessions at “Pyrit” and “Breaza-Zlatna” on a surface of 720 ha and exploitations permits on an area of 3500 ha. The “Mica” Society was invested as mandatary, thus representing the French society in the endeavour on closing the contract and concerning any exploitation issues and “any other decisions which would be taken regarding the work to be done”.Being directly interested in gaining profit, “Mica” controlled and conducted the whole production and capitalization activity of the Stănija gold. In this respect, a work plan was established in 1934 with the aim to obtain a reasonable gold production and to open new exploitation veins. According to this plan, mining works were to be undertaken in the Stănija, Fericeaua and Podul Ionului sectors.In the following period, until the beginning of World War II, new veins were opened, new galleries and shafts were dug, and numerous concessions belonging to several local mining associations were united in order to acquire shares for a successful exploitation. Nevertheless, the shareholders were not pleased with the production, capacity and profit. Ever since the end of 1933, the extracted native gold quantities and the reserves proved to be very low, as the performance of the Stănija mines continued to decrease during the following years. Both the French and Romanian parts wanted a larger activity and production, which could have been obtained only after substantial investments, allocated through a solid project. Consequently, in the spring of 1937, Anne Marie Barral hired Leslie Maurice Cockerell, a British consulting engineer, for inspecting and researching the on-site realities and for completing a report of definite and efficient measures of the precious metal production. In the period April-June 1937, Leslie Maurice Cockerell inspected and analyzed the entire Brad and Stănija mining zone, writing a report that was published in July 1937 at London, in English and in 6 copies, for the French shareholders. In order to complete the proposed plan, Cockerell considered that an immediate 25.000 pounds investment was necessary, of a minimum fund of 100.000 pounds, which was to be invested in the following period for streamlining the mining activity at Stănija. The application of the development project offered notable results, as the processed ore quantity and, respectively, the quantity of resulted gold were doubled in the following years. For example, in the 1939 activity report for the Stănija and Robotin exploitations it was specified that the mines of the two mining societies were functioning at normal capacity.World War II generally affected the production activity at Stănija, as the opening works of new veins, galleries and shafts were limited, with focus on maintaining and exploitation efforts for the existing galleries. Between 1947-1948, exploitation, opening and preparing new mining terrains works continued in the mines of the “Mines d’or de Stănija” Society. On 1st September 1947, the new chief of the Stănija enterprise, engineer Petru Olosu, ensured 100% the accomplishment of the working plan for 1947. In 1948, the nationalisation shifted the course of the mining industry in the Apuseni Mountains area, as intense (Stakhanovite) exploitation plans were applied, thus exhausting several veins and galleries. The production means of all mining exploitations in the Apuseni Mountains were nationalised at 11th June 1948.

• Details
• Contents