the essential
20 years ago, gold was exploited in Salsigne, in the Montagne Noire massif, at the foot of the Nore peak.
A little over twenty years ago, half an hour from Mazamet, the Salsigne mine was the largest gold mine in Western Europe and the first arsenic mine in the world.
Gold mining began in 1892 with the discovery of the precious metal by Marius Esparseil, an architect and civil engineer from Carcassonne. Nearly 12 million tonnes of ore were processed on the site, to produce 120 tonnes of gold and 400,000 tonnes of arsenic.
Where does arsenic come from? From the subsoil of the region, where it occurs naturally alongside other minerals, including gold. But it was because of the extraction of thousands of tons of rock from the mountain, and its crushing, that arsenic spread throughout the valley.
Pollution in this area broke out during the floods of 2018 where the polluted torrents of the Orbiel led to arsenic poisoning of individuals.
From 1892 to its closure in 2004, the mine was successively operated by the Société des mines de l’Aude, the Société des Mines et Produits Chimiques de Salsigne (SMPCS), BRGM via its subsidiary COFRAMINES, SNC Lastours and finally the Salsigne Gold Mine (MOS).
The mine employed immigrant workers (Italy, North Africa, Poland, etc.) because a large part of the agricultural and pastoral populations of the Montagne Noire did not wish to become miners.
A century of intense exploitation which has modified landscapes and affected the health of workers and inhabitants of the region. Today, despite the security measures implemented by the State, pollution is still present. It would even last several thousand years.
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