Eldorado Gold announced Thursday it had received a formal notice of arbitration from the Greek government regarding one of its projects. Greece's Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Energy and Environment allege in the notice that Eldorado's Greek subsidy Hellas Gold S.A. provided a deficient technical study for a plant to treat concentrates from its Skouries and Olympias mines currently under construction.

The study for the Madem Lakkos metallurgical plant was submitted to the Greek government in December 2014. The ministries allege it was in violation of their transfer contract and the environmental terms for the project. In a statement Eldorado said the study is "robust and consistent" with the transfer contract and the approved environmental terms were met.

Eldorado president and CEO George Burns said in a statement the company is prepared to employ all legal means at its disposal to defend itself.

"Despite the Greek government's refusal to engage with Eldorado, we believe that this matter could still be resolved through good faith negotiations," he said. "We again invite the ministry to engage with us for such purpose."

The Greek government first announced in June that it intended to initiate arbitration proceedings against Hellas Gold, but did not release further details at the time. The notice of arbitration comes only days after Eldorado announced it would suspend operations at its three projects and one operating mine in Greece on September 22 unless certain conditions were met. Since then, the company has received two permits and clarity on the arbitration proceedings, but Eldorado said it was not enough for it to change course.

"Upon approval and receipt of all the required permits and a government that engages in good faith with the company," Burns said in the same statement, "we will then be in a position to re-assess our investment options in Greece."

According to Eldorado's most recent annual report, the majority of its gold reserves were in Greece as of the end of 2016. Of 19 million ounces, 46 per cent were located in the country. Another 32 per cent were in Turkey, where it has two operating mines. Earlier this year, the company gained a foothold in Canada acquiring the Lamaque project near Val-d’Or, Quebec with the purchase of Integra Gold.