Gold-mining operations in the European Union should be prohibited from using cyanide for the processing of ore, the European Parliament said May 5.rnVoting in a plenary session of the Parliament, lawmakers adopted a resolution asking the European Commission to publish by 2011 legislative proposals that would ban cyanide mining technology. Lawmakers backed the resolution by a vote of 488-48.rnUse of cyanide in mining entails "considerable environmental hazards with potential transboundary consequences," the resolution said, referring to the 2000 pollution incident in Baia Mara, Romania, when cyanide-laced wastewater spilled into the Danube and Tisza rivers, causing widespread ecological damage.
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