Last month there was an upsurge in opposition to Eldorado Gold’s Halkidiki gold project in Greece’s Aristoteli county – and excessive force allegedly used by police against protestors. Last week, the violence escalated, on both sides. Defending the project, a spokesperson for the country’s energy and environment ministry has told Bloomberg news service that: “[N]either Greece as a whole nor the Aristoteli county in particular faces a choice between tourism, which represents around 17 percent of the nation’s economic output, and minerals mining, which accounts for about 4 percent”. Yet, its the contention between these two “models” of economic survival which seems at the root of the growing conflict. (Eldorado’s shares are traded on London’s Alternative Investment Market, AIM.)
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=12236.
Switzerland: International Day against gold mining in Zurich
April 17th was a day dedicated to protesting against the European Gold Forum, by the activist movement in Zurich. The European Gold Forum is an annual meeting of gold mining corporations around the world. Members of various active movements from Bern, Lausanne, Zurich and other cities in Switzerland, representatives of communities struggling against mining projects in Argentina and Greece, as well as the chief of indigenous tribes in Canada, together with 20 members of Save Rosia Montana Campaign reunited in protest actions which took place for the entire day.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=12257.