BUCHAREST, March 9 (Reuters) - The Romanian government

said on Friday it won an arbitrage trial filed by Canada's

Gabriel Resources ( GBRRF ) which wanted compensation after its

plan to build Europe's largest open cast gold mine in the

western Romanian town of Rosia Montana failed.

Gabriel Resources ( GBRRF ) had sought at least $4.4 billion in

damages from Romania when it filed its claim at the World Bank's

International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in

2015 for losses related to its stalled project.

The Romanian government, which had a 20% stake in the

project, officially withdrew its support for the mine in 2014

after months of country-wide street protests against it.

"The Romanian government salutes this decision and thanks

everyone involved in defending the interests of the Romanian

state," the cabinet of Socialist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu

said in a statement. The government had initially expected a

negative ruling.

Gabriel Resources ( GBRRF ) gained concession rights to the Rosia

Montana area in 1999 and fought a decades-long battle with civil

rights and environmental groups which argued the project would

destroy ancient Roman mine galleries and villages, and could

lead to an ecological disaster.

The project envisioned using cyanides and carving open four

quarries which would have destroyed four mountain tops and wiped

out three outlying villages of 16 that make up the Rosia Montana

municipality.

Rosia Montana's remaining reserves were estimated at 314

tonnes of gold and 1,500 tonnes of silver.

Prior to Friday's ruling, Ciolacu wondered whether Romania

should revive plans to extract the gold reserves from the area.

However, in 2021 UNESCO added the ancient Roman gold mining area

of Rosia Montana in western Romania to its list of protected

World Heritage Sites.