By Angeliki Koutantou and Julie Crust
ATHENS/LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - London-listed European Goldfields will get a decision on a long awaited Greek mining permit by early February, a government official told Reuters on Thursday, noting there had been no problems with the application.
European Goldfields' unit in Greece, Hellas Gold, currently operates a mine in Halkidiki, Northern Greece, and submitted an environmental impact study (EIS) in August to develop two goldfields in the area.
'Roughly, I can say that we expect the decision to be ready in January, early February,' said a Greek Environment Ministry official who declined to be named.
That would be later than the year-end deadline the company indicated, although the source said the government did not see any problems with the application.
'For the time being, we do not have any difficulties with the submission,' the source said.
The official said other Greek ministries, and the public would be consulted before the final ruling.
European Goldfields declined to comment.
Shares in European Goldfields have more than doubled in London this year mainly driven by the company's progress with its permit applications in Greece and Romania.
'It is very encouraging that the environmental permit is being fairly considered and that the ministry doesn't seem to have any problem at this stage,' said John Meyer, an analyst at Fairfax IS. 'A delay of a couple of months is relatively short in the scheme of Greek environmental permits.'
The shares were up 1.3 percent at 843.31 pence by 1317 GMT, valuing the company at about 1.4 billion pounds ($2.2 billion). The FTSE All Share index was up 0.58 percent.
(Editing by Paul Hoskins, Sharon Lindores)
($1=.6333 Pound) Keywords: EUROPEANGOLDFIELDS/ (angeliki.koutantou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 3376436; Reuters Messaging: angeliki.koutantou.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
ATHENS/LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - London-listed European Goldfields will get a decision on a long awaited Greek mining permit by early February, a government official told Reuters on Thursday, noting there had been no problems with the application.
European Goldfields' unit in Greece, Hellas Gold, currently operates a mine in Halkidiki, Northern Greece, and submitted an environmental impact study (EIS) in August to develop two goldfields in the area.
'Roughly, I can say that we expect the decision to be ready in January, early February,' said a Greek Environment Ministry official who declined to be named.
That would be later than the year-end deadline the company indicated, although the source said the government did not see any problems with the application.
'For the time being, we do not have any difficulties with the submission,' the source said.
The official said other Greek ministries, and the public would be consulted before the final ruling.
European Goldfields declined to comment.
Shares in European Goldfields have more than doubled in London this year mainly driven by the company's progress with its permit applications in Greece and Romania.
'It is very encouraging that the environmental permit is being fairly considered and that the ministry doesn't seem to have any problem at this stage,' said John Meyer, an analyst at Fairfax IS. 'A delay of a couple of months is relatively short in the scheme of Greek environmental permits.'
The shares were up 1.3 percent at 843.31 pence by 1317 GMT, valuing the company at about 1.4 billion pounds ($2.2 billion). The FTSE All Share index was up 0.58 percent.
(Editing by Paul Hoskins, Sharon Lindores)
($1=.6333 Pound) Keywords: EUROPEANGOLDFIELDS/ (angeliki.koutantou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 3376436; Reuters Messaging: angeliki.koutantou.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
© 2010 AFX News