Skouries mine

A 46-year-old logger died Monday morning after he was crushed by a falling branch while felling trees in the Skouries forest in Halkidiki, northern Greece. His colleagues rushed him to a health center in the nearby town of Paleochori, where he was pronounced dead.

The saga over the Skouries gold mine project in the northern Greek region of Halkidiki, which is backed by Canadian gold-mining company Eldorado and has been dogged by controversy and setbacks for years now, reads like a bad soap opera.

The Greek subsidiary of Canada's Eldorado Gold, Hellas Gold, is set to put its investment in mining projects in Halkidiki on ice following the government's decision to refer its dispute with the company to arbitration.

Hellas Gold announced on Wednesday that it has suspended the inauguration of the facilities at the Olympias mine in northern Greece 'until further notice.'

Greece's decision to start an arbitration process with Eldorado Gold Corporation over a gold mine development could undermine the Canadian company's 2.8-billion-dollar investment project and cost hundred of jobs.

Greece plans to start an arbitration process in August to settle its differences with Canada's Eldorado Gold Corporation over a gold mine development, the Greek Energy Ministry said on Thursday.

Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis met Eldorado's management in Athens on Wednesday and the two sides discussed the issue, the ministry said in a statement.

The Canadian mining group Eldorado Gold confirmed on Monday that it was resuming work at a controversial site in Skouries, Halkidiki, after the Environment Ministry approved a technical study for the project.

Eldorafo Gold announced today that it will suspend investments in Skouries and probably in Olympiada, too. And instead of trying to find a solution, the Greek government escalates the tension by imposing a fine of 1.7 million euros to Hellas Gold, while European Commission has already sent a message to Athens saying that Greece should attract and keep investments.

Canadian miner Eldorado Gold Corp on Monday said it will suspend its mine construction and development in Greece following a year of confrontations with the Greek government including permits being revoked and delayed by the state, according to Reuters.

A Greek top administrative court on Monday annulled the government decision to suspend Canadian Eldorado Gold’s mining operations in northern Greece. Eldorado had appealed to overturn a ban on its plans to develop a gold mine in a forested area of northern Greece in a case widely seen as a case of the leftist government contesting foreign investment.

A group of miners from the Skouries gold production and processing complex of northern Greece rallied and blocked the main gate of state broadcaster ERT  early Monday evening, an hour before a scheduled debate (19.00 GMT) between leftist SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras and conservative New Democracy president Vangelis Meimarakis.