ONE hundred tonnes of cyanide in the water that spilled from a Romanian
goldmine have devastated rivers in central Europe, say Hungarian scientists.
A breach of a dam at the Baia Mare goldmine, near Oradea in northwest
Romania, on 30 January has wiped out fish and other aquatic life for hundreds of
kilometres along the River Tisza in Hungary. By early this week the pollution
had reached the Danube in Serbia and was concentrated enough to kill fish.
Cyanide is used by miners to separate gold and silver from other ores. As
little as 0.1 milligrams per litre of water…
