Eldorado Gold Corporation (TSX: ELD, NYSE: EGO) announced today that it has achieved a significant milestone at its Skouries copper-gold project in northern Greece, with the first ore successfully crushed as the project advances through commissioning.
The company reported that ore has now been fed through the commissioned crushing circuit at Skouries, marking an important step forward as the project moves closer to production.
Key Highlights
- First Ore Crushed: Ore is now being processed through the primary crusher and conveyed to the coarse ore stockpile, demonstrating that front-end processing is functioning as planned.
- Strong Stockpile Position: Open-pit mining is ahead of schedule, with a total run-of-mine ore stockpile reaching approximately 3.9 million tonnes (including 3.4 million tonnes from the open pit). This substantial stockpile is expected to support a smooth ramp-up through commissioning and the first year of production.
- Commissioning Progress: Wet and dry commissioning activities are advancing across crushing, grinding, flotation, concentrate handling, and tailings circuits.
- Power Update: While the final transmission tower has been installed, full site energization is still pending final inspection and approval by the Greek power authority. To maintain momentum, Eldorado has deployed additional generators to support ongoing commissioning activities.
Eldorado continues to target first production of copper-gold concentrate in Q3 2026 and commercial production in Q4 2026, subject to final energization and successful ramp-up.
“Crushing first ore is an important milestone for Skouries and reflects the steady, safe progress being made by our team,” said George Burns, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eldorado Gold. “We are taking proactive steps to maintain momentum while we await final site energization, and remain focused on completing the remaining steps safely and methodically.”
A short video showing ore being processed through the primary crusher is available on the company’s website.
The Skouries project is one of the most significant undeveloped copper-gold deposits in Europe. Once fully operational, it is expected to be a major contributor to Eldorado’s production profile and to Greece’s mining sector.