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Gold/Mining/Energy : TVX Gold -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LLCF who wrote (824)	4/12/2001 9:03:44 AM
From: Box-By-The-Riviera™	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 905

DJ Greek Court Blow To Canada TVX Gold Plant Hopes - Reports 12 Apr 08:48 ATHENS (AP)--Opponents of a Canadian-led gold processing plant celebrated apparent victory Thursday after a court reportedly ruled that plans must be scrapped because of environmental risks. The Council of State ruling, reported by Greek media but not yet officially published, throws into question the future of Greece's largest foreign investment. Any retreat by TVX Gold Inc. (TVX) could be a blow to efforts to bring foreign capital to the European Union's poorest nation. "All the suspicions we had have been confirmed," said Nikos Mitsiou, who has led protesters in a four-year battle that has included road blockades and clashes with riot police near the site in northern Greece. The nation's highest administrative court ruled 20-7 that the possible environmental risks from cyanide and gold-processing byproducts outweighed the potential benefit to the economy, media reports said. It cancels permits for the plant issued by the Socialist government, which for years had been anxious for the investment to go ahead, the reports added. The official decision is not expected to be published for several weeks and court officials could not be reached for comment. Decisions are often leaked to the Greek press before being officially released. TVX Hellas, the Canadian company's Greek subsidiary, declined to comment until it receives the official decision. "We are waiting for an official confirmation ... to take a position on this," said Ioannis Drapaniotis, managing director of TVX Hellas. The deputy development minister, Alexandros Kalafatis, said he was "surprised" by the reports and complained such a decision would "go against our country's interests." Residents of several small communities about 65 kilometers east of Thessaloniki have organized a strong front against plans for the plant. Demonstrations had included months-long blockades of the mining area, which has yielded various metals, including zinc and silver, for nearly 2,000 years. They appealed to the Council of State, saying that the cyanide used in the gold processing and the arsenic created as a by-product would endanger the environment. A previous environmental study had approved the plant. TVX, which bought the mines in December 1995 for $47 million, insists its gold-extracting process is environmentally safe and has promised to clean up pollution left by past mining operations. The company has been doing some mining, but no gold processing. It has so far spent a total of $300 million and had planned to spend another $260 million on the plant, the company said. Tolis Papageorgiou, a civil engineer and member of the protest group, said they may consider seeking a ruling to seize TVX assets to fund environmental restoration work. (END) DOW JONES NEWS 04-12-01 08:48 AM