In the little corner of Diokoul Diawrignenestled in the northwest of Senegal near the ocean, a real storm is brewing. The company Grande Côte Operations (GCO)branch of the French group Erametthere is a huge mining concession which is disrupting local life. The residents are fed up, so much so that the mayor, blonde gayetook the lead in a protest march in Lompoul village.
Why is this mine so disturbing?
The company GCOwith its 90% held by Eramet and 10% by the Senegalese State, operates an immense territory of 445 000 hectares along the coast until 2029. It extracts precious minerals such as zircon or rutile. Thanks to this, Eramet became the fourth world producer of zircon. But the methods employed by GCO — a dredge connected to a floating plant and a dry extraction unit — have not left the landscape unscathed.
Formerly fertile lands are transformed into white deserts without vegetation, completely disrupting local agriculture. Pape Sarr says: “That big dune? She wasn’t here six months ago. It was GCO who created it with its floating factory.” Thousands had to leave their land to be relocated elsewhere.
Money and water: two big worries
For local farmers, it’s a guaranteed economic disaster. Pape Sarr saw his fields go up in smoke even though they brought him every year 30 million CFA francs. The compensation proposed is ridiculous because it is based on scales dating from 1974! As Demba Fall Diouf says: “These amounts are based on old scales never seen again since”.
And that’s not all: water resources are also affected! In several villages, wells are drying up and residents are having to dig much deeper to find drinking water. Julien Potron explains: “Now, to have enough water, you have to dig 50 or 70 meters whereas before it was only 15 or 20 meters.” And GCO is accused of using enormous quantities of water for its activities.
What do politicians do about all this?
Local authorities are not spared from criticism; some even accuse these local officials of being too friendly with GCO because of the social payments that the company pays. Mayor Gora Gaye does not mince his words: “GCO took everything from us: our land, our cultures… our dignity”.
At the national level too, things are moving! Since last April under the presidency of Bassirou Diomaye Faye with Ousmane Sonko as Prime Minister, three deputies from the Pastef party demand an investigation and a temporary halt to mining activities.
What efforts will be made to repair the damage?
Aware of the skyrocketing criticism, GCO ensures that it boosts the local economy with more 2,000 jobsdont 97% for Senegaleseand she claims to have paid 25 million euros to the State in 2023. They also highlight their actions to restore damaged nature through the replanting of trees and the creation of an “oasis”.
This complex situation in Diokoul Diawrigne clearly shows the tensions between economic development and environmental preservation in this region already weakened by the changing climate. For many like Cheikh Fall who speaks of a man who had to leave his native land to try his luck elsewhere: “A man forced to abandon his fields went as far as Nicaragua before being smuggled into the United States.” These poignant stories remind us of the urgent need for all parties to find common ground that respects both human needs and those linked to sustainable development.
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