Questions remain over France’s largest lithium mine project

After five months of public debate on what could be France's largest lithium mine, opinions remain divided despite the implications for the EU's wider push for domestic production of critical raw materials.

Announced in October 2022 by French mining company Imerys, the EMILI project aims to extract a lithium deposit in Échassières, in central France's Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

On Monday (30 September), the CNCP, an independent committee responsible for fostering public debate, published its report on the 42 events it organised over five months, which attracted 3,628 participants, saying opinions on what could become France's largest lithium mine remain split.

"For some, mining is ‘old-fashioned’ and outdated, fundamentally dangerous and polluting. For others (they believe that) technical innovation will allow mining to progress, and reduce its impact," the report states.

However, it was the sheer scale of the project that appeared to have worried locals most - the €1 billion project, expected to operate for 25 years and produce enough lithium per year to power 700,000 electric vehicles, includes facilities for the extraction and crushing of lithium ore at Echassières, a rail loading platform in the Saint-Bonnet-de-Rochefort municipality and near the lithium transformation factory in the Montluçon district.

The debate also highlighted the different public perceptions regarding mining projects more generally.

While some participants argued that the urgency of climate change justified increased lithium production of lithium in France, others were more sceptical, arguing instead for less energy consumption and criticising the impact of consumerism on the living world.

A testbed for Europe

Lithium is a key raw material for battery production, which not all countries have easy access to. Along with other critical raw materials, it is seen by EU institutions and member states as crucial for the EU to maintain its energy independence and economic leadership in clean energy technologies.

In March, the EU adopted its Critical Raw Materials Act, which sets targets for the domestic extraction, processing and recycling of such materials.

In France, reforms to the country's Mining Code, aimed at simplifying and improving the permitting processes for new mining projects, entered into force this July.

However, despite these recent legislative changes, doubts remain about the feasibility of large-scale mining in the European Union, with commentators questioning whether locals are prepared to accept such activities in their respective regions.

It is also unclear whether Europe's complex web of environmental regulation will easily allow the development of new mines, especially as these often have a major impact on the local environment.

Local preoccupations

While political leaders may be concerned with concepts of sovereignty and energy independence, these did not convince locals of the merits of the Allier lithium mine, the CNDP report states.

Instead, the public raised a number of concerns about the project's potential impact on the local environment.

The municipality of Saint-Bonnet, where the loading platform will be located to load mined ore onto trains, argued that it wanted to preserve its rural and ‘green retreat' identity, and did not want polluting economic activity in the area.

The other major issue is the future treatment of the 1,350,000 tonnes of residues from the Échassières mine and the 600,000 to 800,000 tonnes from the conversion plant.

Project developers are proposing to use this material to backfill unused mine shafts, local residents are asking for more guarantees about the watertightness of these tunnels to avoid contamination of local water resources.

Another issue of concern to farmers and local residents is the project's water requirements, estimated at 1,200,000 m3 from two local river basins that already suffer from chronic water shortages.

Recommendations

In its recommendations, CNDP calls on Imerys, electricity network operator RTE and the French government to "set out the decision-making criteria for the depth and duration of the mine's operation, the balance of the electricity network and the overall carbon footprint."

It also calls on the mining company to share more data, involve locals in the project's management, and provide training to local job seekers.

CNDP also urges the government to broaden the debate on its strategy for the supply of critical materials, mining activities, and mobility plans.

The ball is now in the court of the project's promoters, who have three months to respond to CNDP's proposals.

[Edited by Donagh Cagney/Daniel Eck]