(Adds background, details)
ATHENS, March 1 (Reuters) - Greece will decide on whether to
grant permits to Canada's Eldorado Gold ELD.TO for its
Olympias mine project in northern Greece by the end of this
month, its energy minister said on Tuesday, agreeing to a
deadline requested by the company.
The Vancouver-based miner has been in a dispute with the
government over plans to develop gold mines in a forested area
of northern Greece, with the government voicing environmental
concerns over the project.
The project is the biggest foreign investment in heavily
indebted Greece and the leftist government's handling of the
case is seen as a test of its approach to foreign investors.
Tensions came to a head in January, when Eldorado said
Greece had been delaying the necessary permits and announced it
would halt construction of its Skouries project in northern
Greece. It warned it would do the same at its Olympias mine if
it did not secure necessary permits by the end of March.
"The company has submitted (for approval) specific studies,"
Energy Minister Panos Skourletis told Greek state television
ERT. "They will be reviewed by the end of March."
Eldorado has invested about $700 million to develop the
Skouries and Olympias mines since 2012 and plans to invest
another $1 billion in the projects.
The government revoked Eldorado's permit in August over
environmental tests on the project but Greece's top
administrative court annulled the government's decision in
January. ID:nL8N15442O
Eldorado said last week that it had received a building
permit for a processing plant at Skouries and that the project
remained on hold while the company awaited the issue of other
licenses. ID:nWNAB0A605