Mayor to Canadian ambassador: ‘Leave us alone’
Alexandropoulis does not want goldmine, Ambassador Robert Peck told
Photo: Perama locals protest against the Eldorado mine at Perama, November 2012 (AMNA)
The mayor of a area in the northern region of Thrace where a Canadian company is planning a controversial goldmine project has told the Canadian ambassador to Greece that his people want to be left in peace.
“We want to be left alone to develop our fisheries, our livestock, our tourism, our forests, to be able to prosper. If you truly appreciate Greek culture, leave our area alone and clean. We cannot take any more,” Alexandropoulis mayor Vangelis Lampakis told Ambassador Robert Peck at a meeting on Wednesday.
Lampakis was referring to Perama Hill mine, which is located about 30km from Alexandropoulis.
Vancouver-based Eldorado Gold will operate the mine through its Greek subsidiary, Thracean Gold Mining. It estimates that it can extract over $30m of gold from the site per year.
In his reply, Peck underlined that he did not represent Eldorado Gold but the Canadian government, which can guarantee, as he said, the reliability of company.
Eldorado hopes to start construction of the mine upon receiving approval for a final environmental impact assessment, which is expected early this year.
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