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day three mining magna sites in hull could be key in north increase for one hundred years and goals to be mined fifty kilometers east of here. a lot of people are upset about that. mining and stuff it's very sensitive you know chivvying up question what are we supposed to do eat grass this treasure in these mountains would go well no it would be shovel. score years will start happening we will be destroyed here. tourism is a key element of the economy here in the how could it be region. fishing and agriculture also important. in terms of coexist with them to strip mining leases economy needs foreign investment but at what price.

we're on our way to hell as gold company a subsidiary of the canadian mining group eldorado gold we want to interview some of the managers here. the security guard tells us to wait and want to find out more of the three mines that the company operates in this region especially the gold mine and scarring. vella phone call from the public relations department. a number of gold mines are to be built and more than greece the proposed projects have led to bitter disputes between opponents and supporters. police public as a co-founder of a citizen's movement that's trying to stop the mines he's been fighting against gold mining here for twenty years. more storm or people here is that with. their

fishing and tourism and told me moon she means water means clear native. environment. and gives good years would start everything it will be destroyed so. the fire in the people is still existing. now we're headed for the gold mines of skerries with as is maria could go to lisa's partner and another outspoken opponent of industrial mining. she's considered on official leader of the movement that's standing up to the eldorado gold and its greek subsidiary. stop outside the entrance to the mine and by the time maria gets out of the car the security guards are already on the phone.

maria often comes here with a photographer to document possible environmental damage caused by the mine. this is where the gold will be extracted first with surface mining and then underground. twenty four thousand tons of rock per day will be dug out of the soil but there's a lot of gold there less than one ground for tony. smelter will also be built here the value of the gold silver and copper deposits in this region is estimated at about fifteen billion euros. more than three square kilometers of forest were cleared to make room for the mine. they built all this without a permit they got one later but it's still illegal. we checked and we were ported that and alba violations to the appropriate government ministry.

security guards arrived to find out what we're doing the entire area is sealed off like a top secret military base and visitors are not welcome. the mining company has been arguing with the greek government for years about this project some of the company's obligations were approved but others were not several of the disputes ended up in courts or arbitration. the government has not yet given permission for the mine to open so things are on hold here. at their home marina and to lease shows documents that outlined the long running dispute over the mine maria post news about the project almost every day or blog. there have been violent protests against the environmental damage caused here by the mine police or fire tear gas at anti money demonstrators. company

equipment has been set on fire we did two reports of all of this for germany's a.r.d. t.v. network. we were filming in the nearby forest in april twenty eighth thirteen when a dispute broke out between activists and a mining company worker. who was trying to drive a bulldozer into the area and the protesters were determined to stop. the workers said he was just doing his job and if he didn't he'd be fired. he added the protesters might get him to leave but the company was staying put. not of the officer this is an old growth forest and the mining company wants to build a road through here and a landfill so they're knocking down all the trees with their bulldozers even though they don't have permission to do that work and i need to dawdle grow then i could now the in july twenty eighth well we interviewed cut a really glitzy had just been elected to represent. in parliament she was

a member of the left wing cillizza party which was then part of the opposition. makes a lot of. the people of this region and elected me so that i could go to parliament and try to stop this catastrophic gold mining project. in our very best in the south this is a very. maria has often watched this video it shows the reason leader alexis tsipras in june when he thirteen we cut to reno at a rally in the town of your recess. we will not abandon you in your legitimate struggle against armed police and oppression the next time i come to this town we will have doubled our share of the vote we will form the next government and we will guarantee social justice and environmental protection.

because there's no never never got we're going to do it to put us came there to take advantage of this iteration to exploit their movement for political gains where they were saying or is that we get elected on the twenty fifth of january two thousand and fifteen and on the twenty sixth they are gone and the other is gone. not only did this not happen but during the years of the series a government and entire plant was built that's quite a years. eighteen hundred hectares of forest were wiped out. in the years of legal wrangling i've had eldorado stock price hard drop to a five year low of about sixty us cents a share and late twenty eight in other words recovered somewhat recently. here's

a map of the cull could be keeping them. the region resembles the one with three fingers. the satellite view clearly shows the locations of the mines and retention basins. the quite close to some populated areas the effect of the mining operation of the surrounding landscape has been considerable. so this here is the village of the new and this is the location where the new new facilities will be built the new plant then you might there is a plant and the house of theirs because of the waste facility of working all of us both of which you can already see over there in its size then you're working all of us with facility is even bigger than the village was that i thought that you can see behind me also the dam that will confine their waste is that this first of only

five hundred meters from the village of star tony where as in environmental impact statement gold stated that the stance is three point five kilometers. you can see is obviously not true. in addition the proposed landfill is located in a seismic hazard zone. in one hundred thirty two this area was rocked by a severe earthquake that measured seven point two on the richter scale an estimated five hundred people were killed or injured. if a huge landfill that contained several million tons of highly toxic mining waste would be struck by an earthquake the effects on the surrounding area could be devastating. a lot of miners live in st tony pulis gold operates a facility here the process is gold. lead and zinc as concentrate.

the company also has a similar plan nearby a. lot of people here say that these factories are good for the local economy. this banner says the mines a coke addict is only future. this is the village of the gallipoli gear located not far from the skerries gold mine about three thousand people live here and they are divided on the benefits of local mining. the dispute is cause friction among friends and family members. those who work in the mines say these facilities benefit the entire community. the only resources that we have in this region are the mines. there's nothing else we don't have tourist beaches or farm and nothing. what are we supposed to do

eat grass this treasure in these mountains up to. the shop with a mining company if you get the local economy moving again they don't open it. you will see our long. georgists culture as you notice is a veldt or has been working for hella schools since twenty twelve he earns a good living and the company pays wages on time. i work at the scowrers mine and it's a good job we used to have some problems with a few local people who were opposed to the mine but that's changing slowly. but if you are still dead set against the mine i don't know why. they're real hard liners . they don't even sit down with us and discuss the situation but they'll make the border they've got to distributors use them and.

this is the east coast of collocate the. minerals including gold have been mined here since ancient times but today the extraction of these resources take place on an industrial scale and that has caused severe environmental damage. the government's archaeological oversight agency must approve all construction projects. but has not yet been signed off from the scary mind. because ancient ruins were found there by the site of the city of a countless silver coins dating back to the fifth century b.c. have been found here this indicates that the city was prosperous at the time. the village of euro keeney is located about fifty kilometers to the west an open cast magna site might has been operating here for one hundred years explosives are

used to extract the so-called white gold. standard forty workers earned ministre toure's. it produces one hundred sixty thousand tons of magnesium carbonates and fifty thousand tons of basic refractory products per year. seventy five percent of the output is sold in europe including ten percent that's exported to germany. most inabilities more. company managing director dimitri sports shows is around. the business was founded in one nine hundred fifty nine by his father and grandfather. today it's one of the world's largest producers and exports of magna site. portales joined the company after he completed his studies in military service since the one nine hundred eighty s. the site is paid close attention to the environmental protection. of the got the

other side of the mining areas to work now but we have to make plans so the idea is to include every have believed in the protection of the environment as part of your job and also to keep the area is live as possible i mean people who live here people move around the area and one has to consider also the end of the life over mining and you don't want to leave something that looks. dangerous and i'm appealing. as with our mines in greece the land in which the grecian microsite facility is located belongs to the state. the government sells the exploration and mining rights to companies. they are in money by selling the minerals they extract and

they pay taxes on their profits. the rocks are crushed in several stages. and the employee keeps a close saw in the process. after the magna site is washed sorted and ground up it's fired into a rotary kiln at a temperature of about one thousand five hundred. celcius. mark the site is widely used for insulation and as a refractory material for blast furnace as in steel plants it's also a component part of products as the verses aircraft electric cattle and fertilizers . demitra sports are lost and plants manager of the onus are making a final inspection of their products. the company works hard to keep its regular customers happy. but it also has to move into new markets and that's where it faces

tough price competition especially from china. but puerto last believes that greece's mining industry could compete effectively i think it is for a couple of reasons firstly rarely is there a lot of interest being especially invested in. minerals in greece which have not been fully exploited so there is eighties and there say good leads in europe. and it's part of the european union that you don't have to rely on far away places and all these sorts of things so that's a signal thirdly there is a lot of mining know how most of the people working at this mine their local. head. of state job. which is. covering their.

took the financial needs which is interesting in many ways which requires a lot of new technologies in everything so we get a lot of young people that are interested to be employed in a place. where new method and not that in order to do that you have. that opens up new training and job prospects for those who can't or don't want to work in the tourism sector or an agriculture. are perfect for. a lakers form that this part of the mine complex. the water depth ranges between four and six meters depending on how much it's rate recently. the lake syrian's is

a habitat for birds and fish. water from the lake is used to irrigate olive groves and pine trees which are grown in the company's own nursery until they mature. then they are used in reforestation projects. some of the olive trees here are two thousand years old and they still bear fruits . demitra sports are lost loves to visit the nursery and reforestation is an important part of his company's business philosophy. with head and live in the program for over thirty five thirty thirty five years all started in the in a very small scale and then as we. increase in the division of the three we increased also the order of trees that was created in the mind and

then they have a bad yes. it's. just . grease is the world's second largest producer of all of. these pine trees will also be replanted elsewhere. near the mine complex we meet. he worked at the facility for more than forty years now nikos to sixty five and retired. errands a little extra money tending to these farm animals. what to do if. he's in good physical shape and sell his goats and chickens. all the animals are fine the sulphur doesn't bother them at all i even let the chickens pack around for food at the mine site. gets caught in sort of the drug you give them. nico says his mother also worked at the mine i'm

a tains good health even in old age just let another us. in recent years get to kenya has been transformed from a miner's village into eternity sort. this pier where transport ships were loaded with magna sites doesn't seem to bother the visitors. some people have proposed converting the site into a trendy new restaurants but they have to find investors first. the local economy is focusing more and more in terms of. the now hotels apartments targets and shops that cater to visitors. many of them use gary kinney as

a starting point for trips around the cull could the region. at a cafe we talked to a local couple about the mining facility. the brothers and they're. going to tell you a little of what the magna site mine has been here for a long time. a lot of people worked there for years and then retired but now a lot of those jobs have been filled by young people and i don't think the mine has had a negative impact on local tourism up to be with you new to the daughters mind because . i'd say that the mine has actually helped the region in some families people from several generations of work there. in some cases three generations in fact. that is going with. the mine has had

a mostly positive influence. i can't think of any negatives. but i've been scouting people are really worried about a gold mine of them and that's why they get so upset and exhort execute your governor because they got. a group of anti mining activists have gotten the spire in your recess to tell us about some of the clashes that have taken place between demonstrators and police at the skerries facility. talisa maria are here to some of the protesters were arrested and charged with various crimes several of the people here full of the demonstrations and the police response no one will give the numbers and the many give it up with the funding and that the longer the bit was actually something i can remember we heard the police talking on their radios and then they moved in. we started running. some of

us wanted to move forward. but couldn't because there was a lot of smoke that many put a stop to get the people of the public and the police insulted us. i'm not going to repeat what they said. in my blog at the bottom up of must they roughed us up. i broke one of my arms. later i was charged with resisting arrest disturbing the peace and a few other things. that hit these let's see. the effort of the. marine occur a stereo was sentenced to probation and she's appealed the course decision. to get what is what we wanted them they charged us with manufacture of explosives. possession of explosives. disturbing the peace and attempted manslaughter.

it was like half the entire penal code the mission of the go. he was the only got to the mines front gate the police fired tear gas at us because people panicked and some photo of the ground that several of us were there for the whole demonstration and we were the last to leave the mess of the government because the police took photographs of us and that's what it was and that was the evidence that the prosecutors used to do accuse us of organized in the demonstration. was described it's on the to proceed with or without them we woke up in the middle of the night because we were afraid that the police were going to come over in a restaurant right away. they picked up some people from the village two days later we found out that they'd been taken to police headquarters. there were several trials and i had to pay court costs that was really expensive. i've already

spent ten thousand euros just for this carries trial. think it works well if you've got to go. and i think. this is the tell the whole of your a source one of sixteen communities that makes up a municipality named for aristotle the ancient greek philosopher. georges so bust has been the new missa polities mirror since twenty fifteen he's a member of the party and an opponent of the gold mine has been called several times to testify at the trials of the protesters. or that said he would do for them so the indictment covers half the penal code. the defendants have been tied up in the courts for years. and they've had to spend

a lot of money on lawyers and court costs. even though they might be acquitted in the end up with these awful. there's less water now in the rivers and streams of color could be key because of climate change. the reasons water reservoir is located near mt of us. geology professor surrounds us dimitri out us says mining operations pose a serious threat to the reservoir. yet the usual stuff thought. if the old fart is allowed those calories mine to open of her sylla tea has to be kept dry both above and below ground if there's a lot of water in the mountains. and it has to be pumped out from a height of six hundred seventy meters above sea level to about one hundred thirty meters below sea level excess that will completely drain

a large area in the mountains. so will. the reservoir is essential for the entire region. to your lots more because cowries mine would release to toxic chemical substances into the environment especially oss and crystal in courts. and if those materials content of us are rounding community is either is dust or mixed with rain they could cause cancer. you know want to go yourself. a stereoscopes honestly those friends the mitri are personally in peking verse hysteria zones twenty five beehives live the village of joe mccarthy about three kilometers from the scariest goldmine of human and he's worried that if the gold

mine is allowed to open it would pollute the surrounding trees and soil with toxic materials. those pollutants would then be absorbed by the bees and that could be deadly for the insects and for humans. the so many people here. have watched the barrier we had a similar situation about forty years ago. back there and of our lines around here were strung up on wooden poles that were covered with coal tar creosote. during the hot summer months the creosote mounted the. beans thought it was nectar because it smelled like pine wood. later when people extracted the honey from the hives it was full of creosote.

there's something one bank could happen again. with that pollutants from this gold mine. so the honey could be contaminated with the hospitals and crystalline quartz that we talked about earlier. but unlike creosote these materials would leave no visible trace. a lot of local farmers are worried about toxic materials getting into the ground water the soil where they grow their crops and the pastures with their livestock grains. this is the satirist area the business was founded in one thousand nine hundred six and has grown steadily since then. the dairy known place twenty five people they produce your goat and cheese in shifts around the clock for sale to wholesalers and

individual customers one of the managers the meat wrist authorise says the local residents are always talking about the gold mine. for the birds the things that people are nervous about it. but i think that we have to make use of the wealth that we have in this region. over the. border that may be a difficult choice. but i believe that this sort of development will be good for the community. for the environment for jobs and for the tourism sector. the dairy also supplies products to the hotel where thomas as a needless works as a manager has to thoris believe that the future of depends on supporting and expanding local commerce and resources. the local beaches are popular with tourists. during the spring and summer hotels guesthouses and other accommodations are usually fully booked. hotel owners are

trying to attract more turfs by extending the high season and targeting new demographic groups. they want to focus on promoting a high quality travel experience that highlights the region special features. thomas as a need us says that the region has a lot to offer. if the identity of our area or local production is the pride of how giving we have so much gold being produced here in terms of. products. that really we could leave only with those. promotion and marketing of our area. local hotel owners have been demanding that the government do more to improve infrastructure. some of them even finance various improvements themselves like

high speed internet services thomas as a need is tells us that his hotel the alexandra palace spent more than eighty thousand euros on this so far. the hotel phyllis was built at the end of the nineteen eighties at that time most of the guests were greeks germans and britons. today many of the visitors come from nearby balkan countries like bulgaria romania and serbia. the number of greek guests has fallen off sharply in recent years mostly due to the country's financial crisis. several years ago gregorios to serious took over as the hotel's manager before that his parents had managed the facility. the family is invested a lot of money improving the accommodations. to see it as president of the cult could equal hotel association and the national federation of. youth he believes

that turns them in greece has a bright future either napoleon mailable had the it's dangerous to demand the exploitation of the underground treasures in our region but. we should focus instead on the potential of the tourism industry. including the development of alternative tourism and i king trails and golf courses. but we also need major infrastructure improvements myke roads and projects that add value to the tourism sector. and of course we'd like to have a rail line that links that saloniki to calcutta dicky. to sell them into boston held in here. thomas says leaders serves on the board of the coke addict the hotel association. spends a lot of time lobbying local and national politicians for improvements in the reasonal tourism industry.

i'm not going to ask for two months and there's the basics roads very road system in how can we please not the best trains. imagine the getting on a train in half an hour you're at the beach from the saloniki it would boast. the federal ministry of economy development inters and told us that it's no financing fourteen road projects in calcavecchia alone at a cost of more than thirty five million euros. expansion work continues at the airport of thessaloniki. this facility and thirty or to regional airports in greece and now managed by a subsidiary of the german company fraport. greece needs more investment especially now that the e.u.

is ended its financial assistance program. but mines have a limited lifespan. the skerries facility would only be open for about twenty three years. then has to man the corporate we want sustainable economic growth and for that we'll need sustainable jobs. but gold mining is not sustainable and mineral resources will run out one day and people who worked in the mines will have to find new jobs that's happened before in this region and. the like than what i raise these points at the regional development conference in thessaloniki in march two thousand and eighteen in my stand on this issue is well known to the sciri to party and to the prime minister alexis to press and the minister of development and tourism your star talkies. and over the years all of them have expressed support for my position. on the scene for new and there's no getting

camera stops in the one. we've come to thessaloniki to interview journalists the liers naked topless he's done several reports in the mining industry in the region . he says that the government will have to make some tough choices as a decides whether to sign off for the skerries mind. you may hear in the causing more c o two after the government to earn income from gold mining that a smelter will have to be built to produce a pure gold not just concentrate like now. but if that smelter is built it could cause serious health problems among the local residents. so that's the big control prosy. if the government approves the scowrers mine it will be risking the health of people who live near it. still is shows there's a video of a twenty seventeen t.v.

report. in it the helis gold managing director talks about the new floating smelting process that the company wants to use. out of the one you know you brought to for us this would be the first time anywhere in the world but this floating smelting process would be used to extract gold in a location that has high concentrations of arsenic. yet that means they'll be taking a pretty big risk. but even if the permits for the skerries gold mine were turned down steadily as they could topless predicts that the mining will continue in the region. by the european union is on record as saying that it wants member states to become self-sufficient in the extraction of raw materials. that could mean turning all of northern greece into

a mining zone the eldorado company is already looking at potential sites around the city of kill keysar trad o.-p. mountains and in the ever else river. meanwhile we're still waiting outside the helis gold mine in st tony. we sent them a written request for an interview one three months ago but the security guard still don't let us in. by. well. the company has put up a sign that says nature hides power and prosperity in the depths of the earth. what lies ahead for the mining industry in greece. can large and potentially dangerous projects because he doubts only in countries that disregard environmental protection rules and ignore the civil rights of citizens. the acceptance is essential and you cannot have a business you cannot have hair and industrial production in navia words don't

accept it. as we drive through the forest of skerries were followed by a police car. rear cutler says that whenever she turns up at the mine company officials call the cops security is tight everywhere around the mine there's not much transparency here. so this is only a very small part of it and also you have to think that's good this is only the beginning of this month and cock of us has many men that have the posits the gold and copper deposits identified by the company there are over thirty seven mining concessions if you are allow this to happen then there is so the entire mountain would be full of holes open pits and things. i do have hope that the people will still have that this will not make it happen

but it is extremely depressing to come here it's like an open home local people come up here and cry is mistaken. it has taken a lot of tears and a lot of blood in the mouth of. several weeks after we finished filming for this report school sent us a letter the company said that it would fulfill all of its contractual obligations . they noted that they had already invested about seven hundred fifty million dollars in this project and said that this mining facility will create jobs and generate revenue for the greek government. in september twenty eighth dean heller skull filed an out of court claim for damages demanding seven hundred fifty million euros in compensation from the greek government. the company said it suffered huge financial losses because the authorities kept stalling on granting permits for the

scale as mine. so the dispute between hellas gold and the government turned political. in december twenty eighth in the greek council of states the country's highest administrative court began deliberations and whether to allow the mining companies to use the controversial floating smelting process. it's a complex situation for the region and for greece as a whole should the country's mineral resources be exploited simply to provide revenue for the governments or should greece focus on developing other less profitable sectors of its economy. how do you define process and losses anyway. the ancient greek philosopher are stuck summed it up well enough nature is constant well this is not.

going to stop. but everything's still up for grabs. even after the third to last match and honestly just. become german chancellor. will qualify for europe. and will get cranky. about this issue when i arrived here i slept with six people in a room. it was hard as. i even got my. herod's.

learning the german language and not a lot this gives me a little bunch maybe to entrap let's say you want to their story lines are fine and reliable information for margaret. very i want to represent you so what do you want from the joint on the song fox hunting for i'm such a valid as we put your questions it seems politicians from around to your opinion and across the political spectrum in our special debate will be hearing from young europeans voting for the first time in the new elections in may voicing their biggest conserves paste of a says i mean please answer to you. and twenty four.

player. play. this is d w news live from berlin officials in turkey order a rerun of istanbul's election after president branch of tiger to one's party complained about losing the vote there the opposition won control of istanbul and march it down says the decision is the latest sign that the country is being world wide dictatorship also coming up a step toward them.