The restart of the works for the development of the gold and copper deposits on Skouries of Halkidikiwith a horizon of completion and start of commercial production at the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, the general manager of Eldorado Gold and vice president for Greece, Christos Balaskas.

Construction work began in 2017 and is 50% complete as $550 million has already been invested. For the completion of the Skourion mining project, an additional investment of 845 million euros will be required, among other things for the development of the underground mine, water management, the construction of the dry waste disposal area, etc.

In the commercial operation phase it is projected to produce 140,000 ounces of gold and 67 million pounds of copper per year with a mine life of approximately 20 years.

According to the data presented by Mr. Balaskas, with the full development of the Kassandra mines (which includes – apart from Skouries – the mining facilities of Olympiada and Stratoni – Mavron Petra) our country will become the third largest producer of gold in Europe with 215,000 ounces per year. First is Sweden producing 260,421 ounces, followed by Finland with 247,560 ounces. By comparison today production from the Olympiada mine is 56,333 ounces.

“The full development of Kassandra Mines gives Greece the opportunity to become the 3rd gold producing country in Europe, strengthening its geostrategic role within the EU, especially after the new EU strategy and the Crisis Legislative Initiative Mineral Raw Materials, as Skouries is a world-class deposit in addition to gold and copper, which is a critical metal for electrification and the energy transition in general,” the company emphasizes.

Also pending is the construction of a metallurgy plant in Olympiada, which had caused a series of reactions in the past. The company has submitted three alternative proposals regarding the technology to be applied in the unit, one of which is innovative, in collaboration with the NTUA, while the other two are applied internationally.

The completion of the projects requires new investments amounting to 1.9 billion euros and will bring – according to the business plan – among other things exports of 11 billion, State revenues of 2 billion, 5,000 jobs and environmental investments of 120 million.

The company also emphasizes that it has developed and implements the Integrated Sustainability Management System (SIMS), which is a voluntary, intra-company set of obligations related to Corporate Governance, Health & Safety, Environment, Society, as well as an integrated System of Environmental & Social Management that aims to effectively manage and mitigate the environmental and social impacts of the organization.