Eldorado Gold inks deal with Greece to restart work at Skouries project

Eldorado Gold Corp. and the Greek government amended a 2004 investment agreement to allow the company to resume developing the Skouries gold-copper project.

Eldorado put the project under care and maintenance in November 2017 over permitting delays, and the issue escalated with Eldorado subsidiary Hellas Gold S.A. filing a €750 million claim from the Greek government for damages. But in July 2019, the then-newly elected Greek government urged Eldorado to restart work.

Eldorado said Feb. 5 that it expects construction work at Skouries to be finished in about 2.5 years. The company is awaiting the government's approval of its use of dry-stack tailings technology at the project.

The agreement will also pave the way for the expansion of the Olympias gold-silver-lead-zinc mine to 650,000 tonnes per year and the upgrade of port facilities at the Stratoni silver-lead-zinc-gold operation to allow for bulk shipment of concentrates.

In addition, Eldorado will further invest in exploration work at the Mavres Petres-Stratoni property and continue its study of on-site gold processing methods.

As part of the amended deal, the government's royalty rates for all contained metals will increase to 2.2% from 2% based on gold prices of $1,300 per ounce. The projects are expected to create 3,000 jobs and spark an $80 million investment in community projects over the mine life.

Eldorado said the amended deal provides investor protection mechanisms and a clear permitting framework. The agreement will be submitted to the Greek Parliament for ratification, with a vote expected in an upcoming parliamentary session.