Greek mines move forward

Article Excerpt

EUROPEAN GOLDFIELDS $6.05 (Toronto symbol EGU; SI Rating: Speculative) (44 (20) 7408 9534; www.egoldfields.com; Shares outstanding: 179.9 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion) has won preliminary approval to build mines at its Skouries copper/gold property and its Olympias gold/zinc/lead/silver project. Both are located in Greece. European Goldfields holds a 65% interest in Hellas Gold, which owns three gold and base-metal deposits in the country’s north: Skouries, Olympias and the Stratoni zinc/lead/silver project. Production started at Stratoni in September 2005. If European Goldfields wins final approval, Olympias would start up in mid-2010, followed by Skouries in 2012. The mines would boost European Goldfields’ annual gold production from 70,000 ounces to over 420,000. The prospect of increased output could make the company a takeover target. European Goldfields is still a buy for aggressive investors. investors…