About 3,000 protesters marched in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki on Saturday against an environment-threatening gold mining project.
Riot police barred the protesters' intended route to the Canadian Consulate but no incidents were reported.
Canadian company Eldorado Gold is involved in four gold mining projects in northern Greece. The biggest is in the tourist-oriented Halkidiki peninsula and had been cancelled a decade ago after being pursued by fellow Canadian company TVX. The other three projects are still at the planning stage.
Opponents of the projects include the massively important tourist industry, environmentalists and other left-wing activists wary of Eldorado Gold's influence.
Local communities have been bitterly divided. Some residents hope to benefit from 1,000 jobs that the mining giant claims would be created but others warn against the extreme environmental costs of gold mining.
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