In the surroundings of Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, people are looking for gold, lithium and other metals

Four exclusive research permits (PER) were granted, between 2022 and early 2024, to two companies, the British company Aurelius Resources Ltd and the Compagnie des mines arédiennes, a subsidiary of a Canadian group. Both are looking for gold in the area of ​​the old gold mines of Bourneix, but also, and among others

you lithium.

Last September, two geologists began the second geological mapping and rock sampling program in the field. An inventory of rocks present in the Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche sector planned to last approximately three months. An in-depth study of technical historical archives was also carried out.

“The Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes has highlighted the potential for polymetallic mineral resources over a territory much larger than that covered by the three currently active PERs,” explains the company. Last June, it requested the extension of one of the PERs, the “Douillac permit”, to carry out research in nine additional municipalities (Château-Chervix, Coussac-Bonneval, Glandon, La Meyze, La Roche-l’Abeille, Meuzac, Ladignac-le-Long and Saint-Priest-Ligoure in Haute-Vienne and Jumilhac-le-Grand in Dordogne). The “Douillac permit” initially concerned two municipalities, Le Chalard and Saint-Yrieix-la Perche.

For the Stop Mines 87 association, opposed to new mining activity, “the mining industry is not sustainable, it requires an enormous amount of fossil fuels and water, it creates economic, social, health and environmental nuisances and for the population.” Environmental studies are also carried out over three years. They must be completed in 2025.