European Goldfields

European Goldfields Ltd.

Type	Public
Traded as	TSX: EGU
Industry	Mineral exploration, Gold mining
Fate	Acquired by Eldorado Gold
Founded	2000
Headquarters	Whitehorse, Yukon
Products	Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Zinc
Number of employees	244 Sept 2010
Subsidiaries	Hellas Gold (Greece) Deva Gold (Romania)
Website	www.egoldfields.com

European Goldfields Ltd. was an EU focused, Whitehorse based Canadian precious metals company engaged in gold, silver and copper exploration, development and production. The mining rights it owned to land in Greece, Romania and Turkey gave it access to over 10 million ounces of 2P gold reserves in addition to over 80 million ounces of silver.^[1][2]

Frank Timiş, the 9th richest Romanian was a major shareholder in the company from 2000 to 2006 (his share ranged from 15% to 18.9%); it was from him that the company acquired 21% of its 95% interest in Hellas Gold. Ellaktor, Greece's biggest construction and civil engineering company, owned 19.36% of European Goldfields and is also the owner of all outstanding shares of Hellas Gold (5%).

In December 2011 Eldorado Gold initiated a $2.5 billion friendly takeover of European Goldfields.^[3] The deal came just after Centerra Gold attempted to buy the company and just before European Goldfields was to vote on a $750m (£479m) credit deal offered to it by Qatar Holdings, to finance the Skouries and Olympias gold projects.^[4] The acquisition was completed in February 2012.^[5]

Operations

European Goldfields had two main subsidiaries, Hellas Gold (Greece) and Certej (Romania). Hellas Gold (awaiting a mining permit) primarily engaged in the selling of gold that has already been mined, though it engages in light mining Chalkidiki.^[6]

Turkey - Joint ventured with Aldridge Minerals, exploration occurs in the area of Ardala.

Greece

• Stratoni mine - silver, lead and zinc located in northern Greece. 16-22% of the ore is lead and zinc while the rest is silver, operates both above ground and underground.
• Skouries mine - Nearly 4 million ounces of gold and 1 megaton of copper, is a development phase project. Located 25 km from Stratoni. Production will involve a flotation plant and dore.
• Olympias mine - another polymetallic resource that has 3.5-4 million ounces of gold, 52 million ounces of silver, also has significant resources of lead and zinc. Subsidiary Hellas Gold currently operates there as a seller of existing, stockpiled gold.

Romania

• Certej Mine (80% owned) - A developmental project located within Transylvania in the area of the Apuseni Mountains. Operated by subsidiary Deva Gold S.A.. Reserves are over 2 million ounces for gold and 17 million ounces for silver. Production last occurred in 2006. There are also 2 major exploration projects near Certej that Goldfields is involved in.

References