After the emotion aroused by the announcement of the project, it was time to speak for the leaders of Neometal. Since the beginning of last summer, this Ariège company has been engaged in a process of filing mining exploration permits, ultimately hoping to once again exploit a tungsten mine as the Ariège department has. could have known in the 1970s to 1980s.
A future tungsten mine in Ariège?
Many figures are circulating on the resource available in this rural area in the south-west of France. For the collective of opponents of the project, it is a question of 3,000 tonnes of tungsten still available. For the Geological and Mining Research Bureau, the figure of 15,000 potential tonnes of ore is circulating. As for the project leaders, other orders of magnitude are on the agenda for the 102 square kilometers affected by the permit request.
“The ore that interests us exists between 900 and 1,500 meters above sea level, but we hope to find its geophysical signature at an altitude of 600 meters in the area in question. Thus, we will approach 50,000 tonnes of potential reserves or more (…) It is the largest potential tungsten deposit in Europe”, explains Michel Bonnemaison, the Neometal geologist, with conviction.
In addition to tungsten, entrepreneurs hope to find gold at the same time, while the Pyrenees have a high gold content according to them. “ Tungsten will remain the heart of the project, but gold will be a co-product which could allow us to amortize operating costs. If I wanted to look for gold, I wouldn't go to France », wants to clarify Emmanuel Henry, the president of Néometal and shareholder of 10% of it.
The prefect will provide an advisory opinion on the project
Before exploring the Ariège rocks and exploiting this resource, Neometal must obtain the green light from the authorities. The company met the prefect of the department at the end of last week, after a first interview with the Montpellier office of the DREAL which requested clarification on a certain number of points. In the near future, it is expected that the pair – which represents the State in the territory – will provide an advisory opinion on this project directly to the Ministry of Industry, but also that of Ecological Transition.
“In France, it is very difficult to obtain a exclusive mine exploration permit (Perm, editor’s note). Furthermore, we are still very far from having a mine. The question is whether the project is economically viable. This exploratory phase is therefore essential »supports Michel Lambert, French investor in the project.
To do this, Neometal will be able to rely on new mining research techniques, even non-existent about ten years ago like different scanners. Subsequently, several probes would be sent several tens or even hundreds of meters deep to identify tungsten sources. “ These tools have no consequences for the environment », would like to reassure Michel Bonnemaison, in the face of the strong protest surrounding the project from a section of the local population.
Tungsten mine in Ariège: the underside of an explosive file
Facing China
It remains for the State to resolve the debate between preservation of the environment, but also strategic interests. Today, tungsten, which sells for around 30,000 euros per tonne according to Neometal (much more than in 1986, when the Couflens mine in Ariège stopped its activities) is a strategic material. This ore is used in the defense, aeronautics and space sectors and for the manufacture of tools in industry.
Proof of its importance, the Chinese Ministry of the Economy (Mofcom) wants to introduce export restrictions on tungsten and magnesium, according to the Japanese newspaper Nikkei, even though the country is the world's leading producer of tungsten.
“France is facing a terrible dependence on its supplies of strategic metals. She is even in a very unhealthy situation. The country has a dire need to reinvest in its mining industry,” said Emmanuel Henry, the president of Neometal.
He and his associates would even eventually like to invest with other European mining companies in a tungsten processing plant, preferably in France. According to them, the production of this ore, for example in Spain and Portugal, would today be sent to China to be transformed before returning to Europe… This would then involve hundreds of millions of euros of necessary investments. to put an end to this situation. A far cry from the 12 million euros needed to operate the exclusive research permit for five years, in four Ariège municipalities.
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