With assets in Canada, Turkey, and Greece, we delve into the operating mines and industry-leading growth projects of mid-tier gold and base metals producer, Eldorado Gold, as well as its commitment to responsible mining.
BREAKING NEW GROUND
From gold and silver to copper, lead, and zinc, the metals produced by Eldorado Gold (Eldorado) contribute to our modern world.
Indeed, these products are critical components of green technologies, medical innovations, financial systems, consumer goods, infrastructure, and much more.
Eldorado’s activities involve all facets of mining, including exploration, development, production, and reclamation.
Its operations, meanwhile, are global, with assets in Canada, where Eldorado is based, as well as Turkey and Greece, forming a well-balanced portfolio across the mining lifecycle.
This includes a total of four operating mines – the Lamaque Complex, Efemçukuru, Kışladağ, and Olympias.
OPERATING MINES
The Lamaque Complex is situated in Val-d’Or, a small city in Quebec that translates as ‘valley of gold’, and includes the Triangle and Ormaque orogenic gold deposits, the latter of which was recently discovered by Eldorado in 2019 within the infrastructure area of the complex.
Exploration at these deposits is focused on supporting the conversion of resources in the deeper veins at Triangle and Ormaque.
The company is also targeting and drill testing for new inferred resources in the existing mine infrastructure area, as well as exploring satellite deposits that can feed the Sigma mill, located only 2.5 kilometres (km) north of Triangle.
In Turkey, meanwhile, Eldorado has proven its ability to locate gold deposits, as Efemçukuru and Kışladağ were grassroots discoveries.
Efemçukuru is a high-grade underground operation that uses a flotation circuit to produce a gold concentrate, whilst Kışladağ is a low-grade open pit operation that uses heap leaching for recovery and is one of the largest gold mines in the country.
The company’s other operating mine, Olympias, is an underground asset in Northern Greece that mines gold, silver, lead, and zinc, possessing a significant resource base.
Eldorado therefore strategically invests in underexplored, highly prospective areas that provide organic growth potential and access to high-quality assets and is currently targeting new, sustainable gold and base metal resources through both discovery and commercial opportunities.
Indeed, whilst the company’s exploration is focused on its core operating jurisdictions of Canada, Turkey, and Greece, Eldorado continuously assesses global opportunities for commercial entry.
GREEK GROWTH PROJECTS
Along with its four operating mines, Eldorado’s portfolio includes a pair of industry-leading growth projects in Greece.
The exciting Skouries Project, a world-class asset located in the Halkidiki Peninsula together with Olympias, is the foremost of the two, with the high-grade copper-gold porphyry deposit to be mined using a combination of conventional open pit and underground mining techniques.
The initial life of mine at the Skouries Project is 20 years, and it is expected to produce 140,000 ounces (oz) of gold and 67 million pounds (lbs) of copper per year on average.
As of the end of Q3 2024, the project is 79 percent complete, including the first phase of construction, with work advancing on the filtered tailings building.
In September, the first contract for this building was awarded for the structural and mechanical installations, whilst piping has been completed and concrete work is progressing.
Construction work is also continuing on the primary crusher building, process plant, thickeners, integrative extractive waste management facility, and underground at the Skouries Project.
Once construction is finished, first production is expected in Q3 2025, and the project remains on track for commercial production, which will follow at the end of next year.
The company’s other Greek growth project is Perama Hill, an epithermal gold-silver deposit located in the Thrace region and envisioned to operate as a small open pit mine that uses a conventional carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit for gold recovery.
RESPONSIBLE MINING
Eldorado’s business is focused on breaking new ground at every stage in the mining life cycle, from the initial relationships it builds with local communities to implementing socially and environmentally responsible closure practices.
In this way, Eldorado is committed to responsible mining and pledges to incorporate sustainability from the ground up.
This pledge is embodied by the company’s sustainability framework, which articulates four pillars that highlight its commitments across environmental, social, and governance (ESG) indicators.
By delivering on these pillars, Eldorado believes it will continue to be a preferred partner for its host communities and countries and have access to capital to enable growth.
With a vision to build a sustainable, safe, and high-quality business in the gold mining sector, Eldorado is therefore creating value today and for future generations.
