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We are the Leadership Team at Hellas Gold and we work hard to transform the Kassandra Mines into a world-class mining center. Together, we manage 1,900 employees and focus on respecting the environment, the history of the mines and our host communities, transforming Greece into one of the leading, safe and sustainable gold production countries in Europe and driven by prosperity for all.
Christos Balaskas joined Hellas Gold in October 2017 and assumed the role of the President of the company.
Prior to joining us, he was the General Manager of the Athens Natural Gas Supply & Distribution Company, a position he held since 2009. Christos has over 25 years of experience in the Downstream Oil and Gas sector, primarily with the Royal Dutch Shell Group of companies and BG Group, where he served in various managerial positions in Greece and the UK.
Christos holds an MSc in Computer Science from the University of Birmingham and an MBA in Engineering Management from Bayes Business School at City, University of London. He is a Board member of the Canada-Greece Chamber of Commerce.
Louw Smith joined us on the 1st of January as Executive Vice President, Development, Greece.
Louw is responsible for the development of our Greek assets, including Skouries and Perama Hill, overseeing operations and corporate functions including Legal, CSR, Finance, and Human Resources.
Louw brings to the role nearly 30 years of experience in the industry, and most recently held the position of Managing Director at TEX overseeing a full range technical solutions for gold mining companies. This role arose following eight years of service as the Chief Operating Officer at Nord Gold Plc. Prior to that, Louw was Chief Operating Officer at Alacer Gold Corp.
Konstantinos Georgiadis holds the role of the General Executive Director since December 2020 leading the company's strategic direction on the ground and oversees its operations. He joined Hellas Gold in January 2019 as the Group HR Director and later served as the General Manager of Operations before assuming his current role.
Prior to joining us, Konstantinos gained extensive experience in human resource management as a consultant and analyst in the UK, as well as a senior HR executive at COSMOTE and Sunlight Systems in Greece.
Konstantinos Georgiadis holds a PhD in Strategic HR Management from Bath University.
Since September 2021, Natalie Kedikoglou serves as General Counsel to the Greek subsidiaries of Eldorado Gold Corporation and Director of the Legal Division.
Natalie specializes in financing and operation of large projects, as well as project finance, concession contracts, state aid, corporate restructuring and privatization, and has worked in some of the largest infrastructure projects in Greece. Before joining Hellas Gold, she served as General Counsel and Manager of the Legal Affairs department for the highway concession companies Nea Odos S.A. and Odos Kentriki Elladas S.A. Prior to that, Natalie was the General Counsel and Legal Services Director for GAIAOSE S.A., the public railway management company.
Natalie holds a DEA (Diplôme d'études approfondies) in European States Comparative Public Law and a DEA in Internal Public Law from Paris I University.
Francisco Ballesteros brings over 25 years of experience in the mining and mining-related industries to his current role as General Manager of Operations, which he assumed in May 2021.
Prior to joining us, Francisco held key positions in major mining companies, including serving as Mine General Manager for Newmont Corporation and Goldcorp, Budget Manager for Alpha Gamma Polystyrene and Commercial/Operations Manager for Explosivos de Norteamerica. He played a critical role in managing and overseeing major mining projects, such as the Cerro Negro mine in Argentina, the Canadian mines, and the Los Filos Mine in Mexico, during his tenure at Newmont Corporation and Goldcorp.
Francisco holds a MSc in Finance from Tecnológico de Monterrey.
Michael Papasotiriou joined Hellas Gold S.A. in June 2022 and assumed the role of Deputy General Manager of Operations at Chalkidiki Mining Facilities.
Before joining us, he was the Director of Mines at Imerys S.A. in the mines and facilities of the island of Milos Greece, a position he has held since 2015. Michalis has over 25 years of experience in the mining industry, in the S&B Industrial Minerals SA group and at the Imerys S.A. group, where he led various management positions in Greece.
Michael is a Mining Engineer and Metallurgical Engineer, a graduate of the National Technical University in Athens. He was born and raised in Montreal, Canada.
Available soon.
Ettiene Smuts joined Hellas gold in April 2024 and assumed the role as General Manager of Skouries. He is leading the start and ramp-up of the Skouries complex and will be responsible for strategic planning, leadership, and operational oversight of the Skouries mine site.
Ettiene has experience in mine operations, projects, and construction. Before joining us, he was the Vice President for capital projects at Barrick and prior to that held senior management positions at Barrick and AngloGold Ashanti.
Ettiene has a mining engineering background starting his career at the ultra-deep level gold mines in South Africa and has worked in more than ten countries since, mostly at gold and copper mines and projects.
Robert brings over 30 years of construction and project management experience to the Skouries Project.
Prior to joining Hellas Gold, Robert has worked internationally on several mining projects both as part of owners’ teams and as part of EPCM teams. Most recently he held the position of Capital Project Director with Kinross Gold.
Robert’s project experience ranges from brownfield expansion projects to multi-billion dollar greenfield projects. He has led project teams on all phases of project development from studies through commissioning, and has held senior management roles with both mining firms and EPCM firms.
Mathieu has been serving as the Director of Sustainability for the Greek subsidiaries of Eldorado Gold Corporation since July 2024. He specializes in designing and implementing sustainability strategies, including environmental management, social performance, stakeholder engagement, and strategic social investment.
With over 20 years of experience, he has led and delivered strategic design and operational performance improvement projects for top-tier private companies, primarily in the mining sector. Before joining Hellas Gold, he held positions as the Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Director for Newmont in Argentina and the Corporate Social Responsibility Director for Goldcorp in Latin America.
Mathieu holds an Engineering degree in Physics and Chemistry from the Bordeaux National School of Physics and Chemistry (ENSCPB) and a Specialized master’s in administration from the European School of Business (ESCP).
Erika Xirouchaki joined Hellas Gold in June 2018 and has been serving as the Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs for Eldorado’s operations in Greece, since December 2020. She is responsible for overseeing all communications related to the Kassandra Mines in NE Halkidiki, aiming to build a solid reputation of the company and its operations among its stakeholders.
Erika has over 10 years of experience in the Oil & Gas industry holding similar communication roles in the local gas supply and distribution companies, while also serving as the companies’ spokesperson. Prior to that, Erika gained extensive experience in communications serving for over 5 years multiple international communication groups, such as Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann-Erickson and Ogilvy, where she was responsible for driving highly demanding and diverse projects for several different industries.
George Toulantas has held the position of Chief Financial Officer at Hellas Gold since April 2023 where he is responsible for the Finance, IT and Procurement departments.
George has over 25 years of Finance leadership experience and before joining Hellas Gold, he was the Finance Director of Carlsberg in Cambodia and Myanmar where he was based since 2019. George has also been employed with multinational firms such as Heineken, Coca-Cola HBC, Deloitte and Lion Nathan, encompassing roles in Investor Relations, Corporate Finance advisory and Commercial Finance. He has worked in several geographies spanning Australia, Europe (Greece/ UK/ Netherlands/ Romania) and South East Asia.
George holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Adelaide in Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants (CPA) and has completed the Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance & Investment from the Securities of Institute of Australia.
George J. Karcas joined us in April 2013 as a Marketing Manager. In April 2019, he was promoted to Global Sales and Marketing Director, a position he holds to the present day. In September 2021, he temporarily took on the role of Acting Head of Mineral Processing, in addition to the sales function, serving in this capacity for 18 months.
Prior to joining us, George held senior leadership roles in all facets of the mining and metallurgical business, from metallurgical processing to recycling, consulting and metallurgical technology sales and engineering, with VIOHALCO GROUP, Outotec Oyj, RHI AG, Andersen Consulting and Noranda Minerals.
George holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, specializing in International Business and Finance, from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.