Eldorado Gold says relations improving with Greece

VANCOUVER— Eldorado Gold says its relationship with the Greek government has significantly improved since it suspended some mine development work there in January.

“We are, I believe, moving to a better place here,” chief executive Paul Wright said on a conference call Thursday. “We’ve seen more encouraging engagement between ourselves and the ministry over the last month or two.”

Eldorado Gold put the Skouries gold project on care and maintenance and laid off 600 workers in January, saying it would not resume work until it received the necessary permits and relations with the government improved.

Those relations have been strained in recent years, with the Skouries project drawing strong condemnation and protests from some locals over fears of environmental impacts.

The company says it has been encouraged by developments since January, with the government having issued a building permit for its Skouries project in February and an installation permit for its Olympias gold project on Tuesday.

Wright said he’s encouraged that the company didn’t have to struggle to get the permits through the courts as they have over the past year or two.

“These approvals are being granted by the ministry, as opposed to us having to wrest them free through legal action,” said Wright.

The company now is awaiting only approval of its technical study on Skouries before moving ahead, which it expects shortly.

Late Wednesday, Eldorado Gold reported a net loss of $1.54 billion (U.S.) for 2015 after taking a non-cash impairment charges of $1.53 billion, mainly related to its Greek assets.