RTGAM



ATHENS - Greece's new leftwing government will legally oppose a Canadian-run gold mine in northern Greece, its Energy Minister said on Tuesday, promising to protect workers at the mine.

"We are against the gold investment in Skouries and we will use all possible legal means to back our position," Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis told parliament.

"In any case we will support all workers at the mines."

The Skouries gold mine operated by Vancouver-based Eldorado Gold Corp. in northern Greece was the flagship project of the last government's foreign investment drive and considered a test case that would reveal whether Greece could protect foreign investors despite local opposition.

......RL