Police fire tear gas at Skouries gold mine protesters

Police fired tear gas to fend off protesters who had gathered in the Skouries area of Halkidiki, northern Greece (Macedonia), on Sunday to protest gold mining activity.
Dozens of residents of the nearby village of Ierissos, as well as protesters who arrived by coaches and cars from Thessaloniki, approached the forest in Skouries, where Hellenic Gold, a subsidiary of Canadian firm Eldorado Gold, has begun mining activity that locals are appealing against.

Macedonia News el : Gold mining in Halkidiki divides local community ....

Macedonia News el

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(News from real/true Macedonia, Greece [1] , [2])

Local officials in Halkidiki have vowed to continue their cooperation with a Canadian gold mining firm aiming to complete a 1.3-billion-euro development in the area despite mounting protest from residents.

A meeting of the municipal council in Ierissos on Friday night was cancelled after protesters disrupted the meeting, clashed with police and overturned cars. Some members of the council claimed self-styled anarchists had come to the town from other areas to cause trouble.

However, the project to exploit the Olympias and Skouries mines has drawn opposition from residents and environmental groups, which held up the concession in the past........