Eldorado receives long-awaited Greece permits

4th September 2019 By: Mariaan Webb - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Eldorado receives long-awaited Greece permits

Toronto- and New York-listed Eldorado Gold on Tuesday confirmed that the Greek Environmental Ministry had granted the Skouries project a long-delayed electromechanical installation permit.

The company will now apply for a flotation plant building permit, which, once granted, will allow for construction work that was suspended in 2017 to resume. This includes building a mill enclosure to protect the plant assets.

Eldorado has set aside $5-million for capital expenditure for asset protection works.

Work on the Skouries project was suspended in November 2017, owing to delays in receiving the required permits for the project, which has reserves of 3.7-million ounces of gold and 1.7-billion pounds of copper.

Eldorado said that it was working with the Greek government to achieve the necessary conditions required to restart full construction at the Skouries project.

The miner has also received an installation permit for its Olympias mine, which will allow for the installation of an upgraded electrical substation and construction of support facilities.

CEO George Burns said that the receipt of the long-awaited permits allowed Eldorado to protect its existing investment. 

“We are greatly encouraged with the engagement we’ve had to date with the Greek State and look forward to working constructively with the relevant Ministries. We believe the Skouries project offers significant value for our investors and benefits to the local communities and the Greek economy, while adhering to the highest environmental standards.”

Skouries is expected to operate for about 23 years based on current reserves, initially as an openpit and underground mine, followed by underground mining only.

The new government of Kyriakos Mitsotaki, which took power in July, has said it wanted the stalled gold mine investment to be revived.