Community Voices
They have the opportunity to visit our sites to observe our practices, learn about how we manage our impacts, and share their perspectives on potential improvement opportunities. The CICs are also an effective tool for preventing and resolving disputes, and are not a platform for lobbying, consultancy for Eldorado, promoting personal interest or a substitute for Eldorado’s responsibilities.
The Kassandra Mines in Greece formally established their CIC in 2023, welcoming 15 members consisting of local government representatives; community leaders; members of vulnerable populations (including youth and older adults); representatives of cultural, women’s and business associations; technical experts; and others. The committee’s meetings are facilitated by a neutral third-party expert agency to ensure objectivity, fairness and effectiveness of the engagements.
During the year, the committee met several times to learn about Eldorado’s policies and practices and mutually agree on committee terms, responsibilities, goals and objectives. Key topics that the CIC will consider for discussion include general updates to Hellas Gold’s operations (including the construction of the Skouries development project), environmental management, community health and safety, traffic management, grievances and associated mechanisms, local employment and procurement, and others raised by the committee. To facilitate regular CIC meetings, as well as open dialogue with all members of the community, the Hellas Team operates a Community Office in the local village of Palaiochori.
At Efemçukuru, the CIC discussed and provided feedback on multiple matters during the year, such as dissemination of accessible materials regarding the site’s Biodiversity Action Plan and results from biodiversity assessments, rehabilitation works and closure plans, scoping of the site’s Social Impact Assessment, and community development planning. In Québec, the “Monitoring Committee” (the name of Lamaque’s CIC) was proud to launch its own website, which provides information publicly about its members, recent activities, as well as minutes from its regular meetings.
