Greece leases mining rights in Şapçı (Sapes) to Metalleftiki Thrakis
Greece’s Ministry of Environment and Energy has decided to lease the state’s exploration and mining rights in an 18.13-square-kilometre area near Sapes to Metalleftiki Thrakis Monoprosopi Erevnon kai Ekmetallefseon S.A., reopening a long-running gold exploration and mining issue in Thrace.
The area, known as Public Mining Area E5 or “Konos,” extends across the regional units of Rhodope (Rodopi) and Evros (Evros). The decision, signed by Deputy Minister Nikolaos Tsafos on September 23, 2026, concerns the re-leasing of the mining area, which had previously been leased to the company under an earlier arrangement.
According to the ministry’s decision, previous exploration work identified the Ochia and Agios Dimitrios deposits, with combined reported gold reserves of 820,000 ounces. The ministry says the deposits could support a long-term mining investment and generate revenues for the Greek state, while the company has committed to further exploration and development.
€120 MILLION PLANNED FOR DEVELOPMENT
Under the terms outlined by the ministry, the company will allocate €3.7 million for further exploration and certification of the identified deposits, in addition to lease payments to the state.
It has also committed €120 million for the preparation of the necessary exploitation studies and implementation of the production investment aimed at developing the area.
The company has been instructed to appear before the ministry within 20 days to submit a new €500,000 guarantee and sign the lease agreement. The Secretary-General for Energy and Mineral Resources, Despina Leto Paliarouta, has been authorized to sign the agreement on behalf of the Greek state.
The lease provides for the implementation of a supplementary exploration programme during the first five years. According to the ministry, the agreement can be extended for a period of up to 30 years.
LONG-RUNNING DISPUTE OVER GOLD MINING
The decision revives an issue that has generated opposition in the region for decades.
Local authorities, scientific and economic bodies, social organizations and residents in Rhodope and Evros have repeatedly expressed opposition to gold mining projects in the area since the 1990s. The source report also notes that political figures and successive governments have repeatedly stated that gold mining in Thrace should not proceed without the consent of local communities.
The history of the Sapes Gold Project dates back to 2000, when it received preliminary site approval. That approval was subsequently annulled by Greece’s Council of State in 2006.
A revised environmental impact assessment was submitted in 2010, followed by further environmental procedures. In 2018, the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia-Thrace rejected an application concerning a supplementary exploration programme. The company challenged the decision before the Council of State, which annulled it in 2020 and referred the matter back to the administration for a legally justified decision.
In September 2022, the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia-Thrace approved the environmental terms for the supplementary exploration programme in the central sector of Public Mining Area E5 in the Rhodope regional unit.
The original Sapes Gold Project has included plans for the underground Ochia mine, the open-pit Agios Dimitrios mine, an ore-processing facility, a waste-management facility, a water-treatment unit and a reservoir for treated water.
The latest ministry decision concerns the lease of the mining rights and the supplementary exploration and exploitation framework. It does not, by itself, indicate that full-scale gold production has begun.
