Investment in the Mining Industry Confirmed

The investor’s request for the inclusion of its investment proposal in the Strategic Investments Procedures of Law No. 3894/10 has been approved by the Interministerial Committee for Strategic Investments (Official Government Gazette 1787, Issue B, June 6th 2012), and the investment has been included in the Fast Track procedure.

The Gold Perama Project regards the creation of mining installations for the mining and development of the auriferous mineralisation in Alexandroupolis Municipality in the Region of Evros.  The total value of this investment is 128,960 million Euros. The operator of this project is “GOLD MINES OF THRAKI Α.Β.M.E”, a Greek Société Anonyme that is 100% owned by Canada’s Eldorado Gold Corporation which is listed on the Toronto, New York and Sydney stock exchanges. Eldorado Gold has seven active mines. The implementation of the project will take place with private funds, without a loan.

The Golden Perama project will be one of the most important and productive investments at the area of Thraki to this day, having a positive contribution to the economy and employment of the area. In particular, during the construction period, approximately 300 people will be hired and upon operation the permanent staff will be 200 full time employees. At a local level, entrepreneurship will be enhanced, regional inequality will be decreased and social consistency will be enforced through direct tax collection.

According to the company, the technology methods that are used are absolutely safe for the environment and the local society and in complete accordance with both Greek and European legislation. The planning of the project has been realised on the basis of zero effluent disposal to natural recipients and all functions will be run in a closed loop model. During the construction as well as the operation of the project, there will be a quality monitoring programme for water resources, soil, and the ambient environment.

Before the project was included to the Fast Track Law, there had been a positive evaluation from the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change regarding the Preliminary Environmental Assessment and Evaluation (PEAE) for the construction and operation of the project, as well as approval from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Preliminary Environmental Impact (PEI) of the project.