European Goldfields Ltd. was an EU-focused,

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

based Canadian

precious metals Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lustre. ...

company engaged in gold, silver and copper

exploration Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

, 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.

Frank Timiş Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

, 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.

EllaktorELLAKTOR Groupis the largest infrastructure group in Greece and one of the leading in Southeastern Europe, with an international presence and a diversified portfolio of activities, focusing on construction, concessions, environment, renewable energy ...

, 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 Eldorado Gold Corporation is a Canadian company that owns and operates gold mines Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold pann ...

initiated a $2.5 billion friendly takeover of European Goldfields. The deal came just after

Centerra Gold Centerra Gold Inc. is a Canadian mining company that owns and operates the Mount Milligan copper-gold mine in British Columbia, Canada, and the Öksüt gold mine in Turkey. Through its Thompson Creek Metals subsidiary company, it also owns the En ...

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. The acquisition was completed in February 2012.

Operations

European Goldfields had two main subsidiaries, Hellas Gold (Greece) and Certej (Romania).Greece to rule on European Goldfields by February
''Reuters'' 2010/10/21. Turkey - Joint ventured with Ariana Resources, exploration occurred in the area of Ardala.

Greece

*Stratoni mine - is an underground, silver-lead-zinc mine that uses a multi-stage flotation process to extract a lead-silver concentrate and a zinc concentrate. *Skouries project - is a high-grade gold-copper porphyry deposit. *Olympias project - is a pre-existing gold-silver-lead-zinc mine not currently in operation.

Romania

*Certej Mine (80% owned) - A development project located within Transylvania in the area of the Apuseni Mountains. Operated by subsidiary Deva Gold S.A.. Production last occurred in 2006. There are also 2 major exploration projects near Certej that European Goldfields was involved in.

References

{{Reflist Gold mining companies of Canada Mining companies of Greece Companies based in Whitehorse Non-renewable resource companies established in 2000 2000 establishments in Yukon Canadian companies established in 2000