Ten years after its production phase, Grande Côte Operations (Gco) still faces mistrust from populations impacted by zircon exploitation. The oasis of an investment of 2 billion FCfa from the Gco, located in Lompoul, in the heart of the desert, has not reduced the tension between two camps which look at each other like earthenware dogs. Pollution of soils and water tables, economic benefits without effects on those affected, environmental danger… zircon is setting this part of the Niayes area ablaze.
Around the sand dunes, high mounds worthy of the great erg of Mauritania, no trace of life, except a group of cows which wander painfully to cross the burning asphalt. In Lompoul, in the Louga desert, 190 km from Dakar, the exploitation of zircon and other minerals has destroyed the vegetation. However, the lunar panorama suddenly gives way to an immense green expanse: the desert oasis. Huts with Saharan architecture, permanent tents and suites, each with a private swimming pool. The icing on the cake: a 2000 m2 swimming pool. “We have not yet started operating, we are in the process of setting it up. The work has been completed since the end of October 2024. We are awaiting steps to operate. It’s a whole circuit that starts from the Minister of Mines to the Ministry of Tourism,” explains Mamadou Kabirou Ba, Director of the “Oasis du Desert” hotel.
In Lompoul, part of the Niayes area, located in the commune of Kab Gaye (Louga department), a dry wind is blowing and boiling with heat, smothering the horizon and the sky, this Thursday, December 12. A no man’s land that the Grande Côte Operations (Gco) has chosen to revive tourism.
“The Senegal oasis was wanted and designed in areas where mining activity has already taken place. We considered it necessary to build this building to revitalize tourism in the area,” explains Frédéric Zanklan, general director of the Gco. According to him, the oasis built on 200 ha for financing of 2 billion FCfa, is part of the 900 ha that the subsidiary company of the Eramet group intends to return to the State of Senegal in the days to come. “80% of the desert is destroyed by Gco” The hotel reception benefits from a water and electricity supply network. “The site is magnificent and we hope to make very good use of it,” enthuses the hotel director.
In this part of the desert, formerly a classified forest under the control of the Department of Water and Forests, the sand ore concentration phase takes place. At one point we are amazed by the dredger which collects the wet sand and concentrates it in particular by means of spirals. This floating plant called Wcp recovers 2% of concentrated minerals and returns to the back of the plant the 98% of the extracted sand not containing mineralized sand: zircon, ilmenite, rutile…But not everyone is won over. This oasis does not interest us,” rejects Gora, mayor of Diokoul Dieuwrigne.
Indeed, the municipalities of Kab Gaye, Thieppe and Diokoul Dieuwrigne have decided to form a united front in the fight against the Gco. Their spokesperson, Gora Gaye, defines their priorities: “We are leading a fight for justice. It is about stopping the destruction of our ecosystem, assessing the damage with the disappearance of the Lompoul desert. We want to heal our wounds and give hope to our populations. » According to the councilor, Gco’s strategy is to try to distract from the essential by talking about oases. “It’s an epiphenomenon. Unfortunately, this mining company wants and already involves some people in this matter. Today, 80% of the desert is destroyed by Gco,” he laments. Mayor Gora Gaye is therefore asking the Ministry of Mines and the Ministry of Tourism to carry out an evaluation study relating to the impact of the disappearance of the Lompoul desert on the economy of Senegal.
Questions about the amount paid as the State’s share
The 2016 Mining Code provides in article 33 that the State can conclude production sharing contracts with mining companies. In fact, the aim is to establish the relationship between the State and the contractor throughout the duration of mining operations. At the Grande Côte Operations (Gco) which holds a 25-year permit, the Eramet group holds 90% of the capital leaving 10% to the State of Senegal. However, amendment 1 to the mining agreement with Gco exceptionally provided in its article 24 that during the duration of the project, the State will have the right to acquire 10% of the production of the operating company on the basis of the increased cost formula as defined in the appendix to said amendment.
In its December 23 delivery, the Senegalese newspaper “Libération” revealed that Gco “has never paid any profits to the State” and “pays a ridiculous royalty of 4% on the market value to the State”. However, to maximize its profits and dribble the State, writes the daily specializing in financial scandals and news items, “Gco signed a zircon distribution contract with the company Emas which is…controlled by Eramet; zircon is sold to him three times cheaper than market prices.”
“Le Soleil” searched the Itie report to find out that in 2023, the Gco declaration shows a payment of 5 billion 957 million 227 thousand 301 FCFA for production sharing for the Diogo project, carried out on November 8, 2023. When questioned, the General Directorate of Mines clarified that it was a mining royalty and not a share of the State. This entity of the Ministry of Energy, Petroleum and Mines also concedes that this is a specificity provided for in the agreement with Gco.
“However, the DGM treats this payment as a specific mining royalty, implying a verification of the application of the formula provided for in the amendment,” indicates the Itie report. The document notes that the State’s share in kind was not declared either by the Dgm or by the company. Contacted, Ngagne Demba Touré, general director of the Société des Mines du Senegal (Somisen) said he was in the process of carrying out an audit of the management of mining companies.
Gco made more than 141 billion FCfa in turnover in 2023
According to the 2023 report from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, EITI la Grande Côte operations extracted 292,630 tonnes of ilmenite 54 and 28,956 tonnes of premium zircon during this year. For standard zircon, the subsidiary of the French group Eramet dug out 19,442 tonnes and 110,527 tonnes of ilmenite 58. For leucoxene, it was 4,942 tonnes while rutile was at 3,081 tonnes. 24,927 tonnes of medium grade zircon sand and 18,238 tonnes of ilmenite 56 were taken out of Diogo lands by Gco. According to Itie, in 2023, Gco achieved a turnover of 141 billion 64 million 555 thousand 704 FCfa.
However, from 2013 to 2023, using Gco reports, Mayor Gora Gaye notes that the company paid the State 51 billion 293 million 677 thousand 862 FCfa in terms of mining royalties, or 4.6 billion per year . “If we add what Gco gives to ECOWAS, UEMOA and social contributions, it is 110 billion 349 million FCfa, or roughly 10 billion per year. What Gco costs the economy, our ecosystem, everything the State has invested for 80 years to reserve this area, is 10 billion per year worth it? », he asks.
