Private Story
The Golden Death
In Halkidiki’s mountains in northern Greece there has been a fierce struggle for more than thirty years against the mining industry and its destructive effects on nature. In the middle of the 317 square kilometer of Cassandra complex there are three mining sites: the Skouries gold and copper mine, the Stratoni silver, lead and zinc mine, and Olimpiada, a gold, lead and zinc mine with a processing plant.
Megali Panagia is the closest village to the Skouries mine. The local committee have organized a protest camp last August under the slogan "Ten days of Struggle for Skouries". It is intended to revive the fight against mining in the region. The activists want to control the actions of the mining companies in the proximity of the mine and inform the population and the public opinion about the current situation. The debate over mining projects in the villages with a strong mining tradition has become highly polarized. The conflict between those hoping to benefit from mining and those who want to avert its negative effects is becoming increasingly acute. the logic of friend-foe assignments and political patronage shape the conflict. Police and judicial repression reinforce this further.
The area affected by the mining projects is also a natural resource. In the middle of the planned mining area, almost untouched forests are growing and this ecosystem stores and purifies millions of cubic meters of water. There are also several archaeological sites and sixteen coastal and mountain villages whose economic survival depends on the water from the forests.[...]
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