Lithium, tungsten and even titanium are essential for the production of electric cars or many electronic components. Emmanuel Macron wants to revive the French mining industry, to produce these rare or strategic metals. But each extraction project faces local opposition from local residents and environmental associations.
In Glomel, in the Côtes d'Armor, in Brittany, the extension of an Andalusite mine is causing debate and dividing the town, between economic issues on one side and defense of the environment on the other. The prefecture authorizes the expansion of the site; the opponents take legal action.
Three times a week at noon precisely, it's the same ritual, a siren sounds in the countryside to warn of “mine blasts”, when we dig a little deeper to extract andalusite, a highly prized mineral for its resistance to high temperatures. The Glomel mine covers more than 250 hectares. A black mountain that continues to grow, under the eyes of Jean-Yves Jégo, of the collective of opponents “Mine de rien”. “It's a mountain of mining waste, it comes back from the factory. It is a part of the rock that cannot be exploited. Indeed, it's overwhelming, it's progressing every day, we see it, there's a carpet rolling which powers it permanently. We have the impression of a burial that never stops. There is something inexorable that is very frightening.” he explains.
Hence the petition, which collected 6,500 signatures, and the legal action against the prefecture's decree which authorizes the construction of a fourth pit. Among the concerns, a risk, according to opponents, of infiltration of mining waste into the basements.
“We fear deep pollution of our groundwater, with this waste which generates mineral pollution.”
Jean-Yves Jégoat franceinfo
“Aluminium, for example, is anything but neutral for the environment. Manganese, iron… So the activity of this company poses a very serious risk to our water resources“, explains Jean-Yves Jégo.
The mining giant Imerys denies: the water is treated, all discharges into the environment are within standards, reassures the group, which can count on the support of the mayor of Glomel. Bernard Trubuilt is proud of the 67,000 tonnes of andalusite produced each year from the mine, which constitutes a quarter of world production. “I think this is a false problem, he said. At the same time, it must still be said that the extension is two hectares more, so it’s not a big extension.”
“It helps support the town and still 120 employees.”
Bernard Trubuilt, the mayor of Glomelat franceinfo
“There are 200 service provider companies in Brittany, including 70 in the Côtes d'Armor department“, continues Mayor Bernard Trubuilt. The mayor puts opposition to this mine into perspective. Most Glomel residents, according to him, have been used to the quarry since its opening in the 1970s.
This type of conflict could increase in number in the coming years. Emmanuel Macron wants to revive the mining sector to produce rare metals essential for the manufacture of electrical components or car batteries, sovereignty issues for the Head of State. Already, projects are multiplying: a lithium mine in Allier or gold prospecting permits in Limousin.
France Nature Environnement (FNE) promises to fight. Antoine Gatet, president of this federation of 6,000 associations, denounces an outdated model. “Lithium, if it's to make batteries for SUVs… Gold mining projects, if it's to make jewelry and ingots in vaults… Do we need to destroy territories? he pleads.
“We destroy soil, we treat this ore, we crush it, we transform it with chemicals, we leave very significant chemical waste on site, argues the president of FNE. If we make a mine, that means that we are not doing anything else and that there are many other things that we cannot do for a very long time in this territory.“.
Antoine Gatet does not believe that it is possible to reconcile economic and environmental issues. According to him, “clean looks are a huge myth. To make a mine, you still need an industry and an ore processing plant, and you still generate millions of tons of waste.”
But, according to experts, it would be possible today to dig more responsible mines, and to put an end to extraction as in the last century with coal. Processes have changed, environmental standards have changed, explains Yann Foucaud, researcher at the GeoRessources laboratory at the University of Lorraine.
“Zero impact does not exist. It is impossible. But many people who are opposed to the extractive industry base themselves on examples that would no longer be true today, if mining were restarted.”
Yann Foucaud, researcher at the University of Lorraineat franceinfo
“All that is water pollution, air pollution, post-mining management, all of that, these are themes that have evolved. I think it is our duty to inform the general public on these minimal impacts that we can have today on the environment”, explains Yann Foucaud.
But for now, it's just theory. It remains to be proven that such a mine can exist, integrating the environmental issue, from the very beginning of the project until the final rehabilitation of the site. This has never been done in France. Perhaps in the coming years, if new mines emerge, as the Head of State hopes.
