The Council of State (CoS) - the country's highest administrative court - gave the "green light" to gold mining in Halkidiki, northern Greece, on a provisional basis. According to the CoS jurists, their ruling was based on the high unemployment rate in Halkidiki (20 pct), considering that the investment will create between 892 and 1,300 new job positions. In addition, they ruled that there are no environmental concerns stemming from the investment.
For the record, the Greek state launched procedures to terminate a contract signed with TVX Hellas S.A. for the exploitation of the gold mines in the region of Kassandra, which resulted to an out of court settlement.
A new contract (No. 320/2004) was later signed between the Greek state and the Canadian company Hellas Gold S.A., which bought the Kassandra mines for 11 million euros. The new contract prompted the reaction of several local residents, who appealed to the CoS seeking to suspend it, again citing environmental protection issues. (AMNA)