Vancouver's Eldorado Gold halts Greek mines, 2,000 jobs at stake

THE#BCBIZDAILY
Plus, cities question Site C and a night club becomes a mall

Clash of the Titans
Times are tough in Greece, apparently. And not just for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who resigned this week: Vancouver’s Eldorado Gold Corp. has suspended its Halkidiki region mines and related operations following a disagreement with the Greek Energy Ministry over approvals. Eldorado had conducted technical tests in Finland to determine the viability of the Greek mines; the ministry said the tests should have been conducted locally, at the Halkidiki site. Eldorado hits the brakes on its $1-billion project next week, impacting up to 2,000 workers (including contractors)—who will be out of work if permission is ultimately revoked. “Hellas Gold [Eldorado’s Greek subsidiary] is taking legal action against the decision of the Ministry of Energy, including the filing of an injunction request before the Council of State,” the company said in a release Thursday. “Eldorado cannot and will not continue to allocate expenditures to our projects in Greece while the Ministry of Energy is openly hostile to our activities.”

Sights on Site C
Another hurdle could be erected for the $8.8-billion Site C mega dam project in northeast B.C.: the City of Victoria has submitted a resolution to the Union of B.C. Municipalities asking fellow cities to help push for a review of the project by the B.C. Utilities Commission, focusing on how it will impact taxpayers and ratepayers. Much of the project’s criticism so far has come from farmers and First Nations, arguing it threatens farmland and the environment. (via Alaska Highway News)

Saturday night fever finally cured
“The nightclub life in Penticton is finished,” John Vassilaki told Kelowna’s Castanet. So what do the people want? Malls, apparently. Vassilaki, who owns the building that had been home to a series of nightclubs since the disco-loving ’70s, will turn the space into a boutique mall with eight boutique shops.