Skouries Project

COPPER-GOLD MINING PROJECT

A world-class asset,
a landmark investment

The Skouries project, which is part of the Kassandra Mines, is located on the Halkidiki peninsula in northern Greece. This copper-gold porphyry deposit will be mined using a combination of surface and underground mining technologies, alongside the best-in-class sustainable practices. Based on the 2021 Feasibility Study, the initial life of the mine is approximately 20 years, and it is expected to produce on average 140,000 ounces of gold and 67 million pounds of copper per year.

By the end of the second quarter of 2025, Phase 2 construction was 70% complete. First production is expected in the first quarter of 2026, with commercial production expected in mid-2026.

Once operational, it will place Greece among the top gold-producing countries in Europe. Greece will also become a significant producer of copper contributing to the transition of the EU to a circular economy.
Download the Skouries Project Brochure PDF

JULY 2025

Skouries construction progress

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Key Facts

LOCATION

NE Halkidiki

TYPE/PROCESSING METHOD

Open pit & underground

EXPECTED MINE LIFE

20 years

DEPOSIT TYPE

Copper-gold porphyry

Copper
Cu
Copper

Av. annual copper production

67 million pounds
Gold
Au
Gold

Av. annual gold production

140,000 ounces

SKOURIES: A VIDEO OVERVIEW

Short presentation of the Skouries project

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Social and economic benefits

The Project is designed in line with responsible mining principles and it is expected to create economic and social value at a local and national level.

Its construction will involve a plethora of operations and the supply of significant quantities of materials and services which will boost local hiring, procurement and employment. Specifically, the project will involve new investments of over $1 billion with more than 1,000 positions required during construction.

The construction works at Skouries started in the summer of 2023 and will continue for approximately 3 years. First production is expected in the first quarter of 2026, with commercial production expected in mid-2026.

Best-in-class technologies and environmental design

The mine will incorporate advanced digital technologies throughout its operations, with leading practices in technology, exploration and mining, safety and environmental protection. The development of the project involves integrating leading environmental and social practices in our industry that ensure long-term positive impacts for all, such as the Integrated Extractive Waste & Water Management System, Filtered Tailings Technology, Backfilling, Parallel Rehabilitation and Environmental Monitoring.

The Integrated Extractive Waste & Water Management Facility includes the:

  • Construction of the new filtered tailings management facility
  • Construction of a new water treatment plant with a high grade of responsiveness to extreme weather conditions and the potential to provide clean water for irrigation to the local community.

Benefits of filtered tailings

Geotechnical stability

Up to 90% of the water is removed from the tailings using filtration. These solids are then conveyed and compacted within the storage facility to form a geotechnically stable solid, improving safety and stability and mitigating geotechnical risks.

Recycled water

Dry stack technology helps water to be recycled and reused in the production cycle, which minimizes the consumption of fresh water.

Smaller area occupied for tailings

Use of only one downstream embankment rather than two originally planned, resulting in an area of 486,000 square meters at the Lotsanikos basin remaining undisturbed.

Benefits of dry-stack tailings

 

Other sustainable practices and technologies

Protection of Water and Facilities

The Water Management Sustems offer:

• Reduced consumption via targeted projects such as filtering and recycling.
• A reduction in groundwater inflows by pre-draining waters and re-injecting them into the aquifer.
• Diversion of surface waters from the mine via water diversion channels.
• Treatment of water which comes into contact with mining activities at the mine water treatment plant and re-use in day-to-day operations.

Recycling and repurposing tailings (backfilling)

The majority of open pit excavated materials are repurposed for constructing Dry-Stack Tailings Facilities, water treatment ponds and other structures. Any excess materials will be repurposed for the gradual rehabilitation of tailings sites. Tailings will also be repurposed as underground and open pit mining backfill materials to restore the previous landscape.

Parallel environmental rehabilitation

The rehabilitation of conventional liquid tailings sites is normally possible after the end of a mine’s lifetime. Filtered tailings technology, however, enables progressive reclamation of the site in parallel with mining activities. That means that the site will be rehabilitated and ready to
hand back to the local community sooner after the end of mining activity.

Comprehensive Environmental Monitoring Programme

Hellas Gold has engineered and already uses one of the most comprehensive environmental monitoring programs in Europe. The Environmental Monitoring Program tracks air, soil and water quality, noise, seismicity and ecology across 500 data points to provide real-time, continuous and accurate assessment of ongoing environmental performance.

SKOURIES PROJECT

Best-in-class environmental design

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Geology & Mineralization

The Skouries porphyry copper-gold deposit is centred on a small (less than 400m in diameter), pencil-porphyry stock that intruded schist and gneiss of the Paleozoic Vertiskos Formation of the Serbo-Macedonian Massif, NE Greece. Mineralization extends for more than 920m depth from surface.

The porphyry is characterized by at least four intrusive phases that are of probable monzonite to syenite composition, but contain an intense potassic alteration and related stockwork veining that overprints the original protolith.

Potassic alteration and copper mineralization also extend into the country rock; approximately two thirds of the measured and indicated tonnes and 40% of the contained metal are hosted outside the porphyry.

The potassic alteration is syn- to late-magmatic in timing and is characterized by K-feldspar overgrowths on plagioclase, secondary biotite replacement of igneous hornblende and biotite, and a fine-grained groundmass of K-feldspar-quartz with disseminated magnetite.

Four main stages of veining are recognized: 1) an early stage of intense quartz-magnetite stockwork; 2) quartz-magnetite veinlets with chalcopyrite ± bornite; 3) quartz-biotite-chalcopyrite ± bornite-apatite-magnetite veinlets; and 4) a localized, late stage set of pyrite ± chalcopyrite-calcite-quartz veins. The host porphyry and potassic alteration at Skouries were coeval and formed during the Early Miocene.

SKOURIES

Virtual tour of our copper-gold asset

SKOURIES PROJECT GALLERY

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MINING PROJECTS

Olympias Mining Facilities

The state-of-the-art mining facilities at Olympias accommodate the underground gold, silver, lead and zinc mine of Hellas Gold. At the facilities of Olympias, we have created a privately-owned plant nursery inside an old tailings site. There, we are growing over 1 million plants to be used in environmental rehabilitation projects in the area.

Explore Olympias