360:. They include 210 exploration or extraction sites (of which only around twenty produced more than 1,000 t of uranium), as well as ore processing sites (eight sites with mills) and processing tailings storage sites (15 sites). These potentially hazardous sites are spread across 25 départements and listed in IRSN's Mimausa database. They produced 52 million tonnes of ore, including 76,000 tonnes of uranium, and left around 166 million tonnes of radioactive waste rock and 51 million tonnes of processing residues.
175:
588:
121:
632:
24:
528:, which operates the Écarpière, Commanderie, Chardon and Chapelle-Largeau mines. The Ecarpière mine is located in Loire-Atlantique, near Maine-et-Loire), operated by AREVA NC, closed in 1990 and since redeveloped. According to 3 studies commissioned from CRIIRAD between 1991 and 1993 by the municipality, the slag heap contains 11 million tonnes of highly radiotoxic radioactive residues;
618:
604:
499:(SaĂ´ne-et-Loire) deposits in 1949. In 2015, AREVA announced the abandonment of its project to rehabilitate the Bois Noirs uranium site, which had been closed in 1990. The plant was opened there in 1960 by the Forez/Grury Division; it replaced the Gueugnon plant for this division, which also owned the Grury mine (
675:
348:
Production peaked in the 1980s, before declining until the Jouac mine in Haute-Vienne closed in 2001, when mining was relocated, notably to Niger. The main known deposit not yet exploited in France is the
Coutras site in Aquitaine, where Cogema has identified a potential of 20,000 tonnes (0.5% of the
298:
Madagascar was extensively prospected by the CEA between 1945 and 1968, a period during which several aspects of beryl mining and various uranium and thorium minerals were successively tackled: prospecting, mining, mechanical processing. Despite cumulative production of 1,000 tonnes of uranium and
291:. It also went to Oubangui-Chari and Cameroon, using aerial prospecting. Boko Songo, in the Congo, a resounding failure, was nevertheless arrested. At the end of December 1956, the CEA discovered the "Mounana showing" in Gabon, which yielded a "magnificent truffle" of 5,000 tonnes of uranium. The
266:
According to
Antoine Paucard, the historian who documented this adventure, France was in the "time of conquest" (1951-1958). On August 31, 1952, the CEA's mining workforce in France and overseas totaled 1,155. From the beginning of the year to the end of September 1952, 51 tonnes of metal were
279:. On January 7, 1956, France's first graphite-fired nuclear reactor is commissioned at Marcoule. It uses natural uranium. Its arrival triggers a vigorous resumption of overseas research: the CEA puts the brakes on, then stops Morocco, but goes to the Sahara :
894:
267:
delivered to the Le
Bouchet plant; 9 tonnes were held in stock by the divisions, for a total production of 60 tonnes. In July 1953, the CEA decided that chemical ore processing would replace physical processing. The first plant was built at
987:
912:
801:
352:
Following the closure of the last French mine in 2001, a few tonnes of uranium are still produced annually until 2011, by processing resins from mine drainage water from the former Lodève mine in southern France.
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1019:
988:"Compte rendu des mesures de terrain et prélèvements effectués par le laboratoire de la CRII-RAD en septembre 1998 sur la division minière de Vendée. Sites de l'ECARPIERE, la BACONNIERE et le CHARDON"
819:
773:
341:
In 1976, the CEA handed over the exploitation of its metropolitan deposits to Cogema. The École de prospection pour l'uranium at Razès, headquarters of the CEA's mining division, was renamed the
385:
231:
The first French uranium boss was André Savornin, a mining engineer with long experience of mining in Africa, who was appointed head of the Mining
Research and Exploitation Department of the
232:
202:
201:
per tonne of ore, but under difficult operating conditions (underground mines) and in the face of sometimes strong local opposition. These mines have been opened and operated mainly by
845:"Remise du rapport sur les recommandations pour la gestion des anciens sites miniers d'uranium en France par le Groupe d'expertise pluraliste (GEP) sur les mines d'uranium du Limousin"
949:
135:
that operated in the country between 1945 and 2001. Together, these sites produced around 76,000 tonnes of uranium. This production is destined for France's nuclear program, both
409:
department, where the most productive sites were located (Crouzille mining division), and which alone counted up to fifty mines in operation. Other mines were located in
576:
Other sites are monitored for having been dedicated to extraction (underground or open-cast, trenching for the smallest sites), to a lesser extent in the
469:(La Crouzille, Haute-Vienne), which processes ores from the Crouzille Division's Margnac, Le Brugeaud, Fanay/Les Sagnes and Le Fraisse, Bellezane mines;
41:
650:
271:
in 1955. The Vendée division was created on
January 1, 1954. In February 1954, the CEA discovers the massive pitchblende lens at Bois-Noirs, near
263:. On December 2, 1945, the CEA Prospecting School was created within the Natural History Museum, and in 1955, at La Crouzille, it became CIPRA.
757:
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the
Baconnière Mine in Roussay is now submerged, and according to CRIIRAD a source of radioactive contamination for the environment;
331:
166:(Vendée and Bretagne). Now completely closed, these mining sites have had different destinies, from renaturation to rehabilitation.
107:
67:
45:
569:
74:
541:
Fifteen waste rock heaps have been recognized by IRSN, including - in addition to the eight sites mentioned above - at:
240:
375:
and radioactive waste processing and site redevelopment, with an emphasis on the local history of the
Limousin region.
314:
Zinc Ltd. It was formed by the major non-United States uranium producers to mitigate the impacts of US policy on the
56:
299:
3,200 tonnes of thorium, the results were not sufficient to reach industrial scale. The 1960s marked the end of the
609:
343:
Centre international d'enseignement en prospection et valorisation des minerais radioactifs industriels de Razès
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Plants for extracting and concentrating uranium from ore, all associated with a mine, were located at:
310:, Societe d'Etudes de Recherches d'Uranium. The other cartel members were Australia, South Africa, and
235:. Despite makeshift resources and meagre budgets, he quickly launched prospecting commandos in France (
124:
Uranium production from mines in France, from 1953 to 2002. Total cumulative production: 75,965 tonnes.
81:
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327:
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China's
Vulnerability Paradox: How the World's Largest Consumer Transformed Global Commodity Markets
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the
Chardon mine in Gorges, closed in 1991, is partly flooded, with at least one resurgence.
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Summary treatment (leaching on landscaped areas) has been carried out at nine other sites.
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421:(west and south-east Allier; Cantal; north-central Haute-Loire), Aveyron and Morvan;
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Other, more localized deposits have been mined from time to time in the southern
383:
All uranium mine sites are listed in the
Mimausa program database, set up by the
357:
319:
210:
23:
599:
491:, a deposit discovered around 1951, following the discovery and mining of the
252:
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425:
720:"Les mines d'uranium et leurs mineurs français : une belle aventure"
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Gueugnon (SaĂ´ne-et-Loire); chemical ore processing plant opened in 1955;
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The UrĂŞka museum, which opened in July 2013, traces the history of the
303:, with national production concentrated solely in metropolitan France.
236:
198:
191:
950:"Areva abandonne son projet à la frontière de l'Allier et de la Loire"
1020:"L'extraction de l'uranium en France : données et chiffres clés"
676:"L'extraction de l'uranium en France : données et chiffres clés"
443:
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187:
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France's richest deposits contain between one and five kilograms of
439:
in Brittany, 22 sites were mined in Morbihan between 1956 and 1984;
228:
created the Commissariat Ă l'Energie Atomique on October 18, 1945.
774:"Musée de minéralogie et de Pétrographie d'Ambazac et Espace IZIS"
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209:, CEA by its acronym in French), and since 1976 by its subsidiary
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lawsuit against cartel members in 1976 and the cartel disbanded.
577:
451:
1006:"Programme MIMAUSA – Carte des anciens sites miniers d'uranium"
870:"Programme MIMAUSA – Carte des anciens sites miniers d'uranium"
372:
207:
Commissariat Ă l'Ă©nergie atomique et aux Ă©nergies alternatives
17:
1005:
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was closed in 1981 when the Bois-Noirs deposit was exhausted;
356:
The former sites are almost all under the responsibility of
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world total), but with few sufficiently profitable sites.
524:(a plant in Loire-Atlantique that processes ore from the
203:
French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission
932:"Qui va dépolluer les anciennes mines d'uranium ?"
190:
set out in the 1940s to ensure its self-sufficiency in
428:(Vendée mining division), covering the departments of
306:France was part of the 1972-1976 uranium producers
48:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
386:Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire
367:in France, the techniques used for prospecting,
178:Map of the nuclear industry in France in 1976.
8:
913:"Uranium. Mines bretonnes sous surveillance"
293:Compagnie des Mines d'Uranium de Franceville
213:, along with a number of private companies.
895:"Mines d'uranium. Les sites à décontaminer"
748:. New York, NY, United States of America:
724:Annales des Mines - Réalités industrielles
591:Non-exhaustive location of uranium mines.
108:Learn how and when to remove this message
968:"Quand la Loire produisait de l'uranium"
667:
651:List of countries by uranium production
405:, and particularly in Limousin, in the
146:These mines are mainly located in the
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46:adding citations to reliable sources
475:/Le Bernardan (Haute-Vienne) ;
182:Having made the choice to become a
318:; to do so, the cartel engaged in
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131:is the activity of the 210 or so
849:Ministère de l'Écologie (France)
630:
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22:
33:needs additional citations for
788:"RP Circus Edito janvier 2020"
295:was founded in February 1958.
220:, mining began just after the
1:
548:Montmassacrot (Haute-Vienne)
417:(in the Loire département),
345:(CIPRA) and closed in 1987.
241:Saint-Symphorien-de-Marmagne
397:Most deposits are located:
186:, both civil and military,
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930:Cléret, Angélique (2012).
526:Division minière de Vendée
57:"Uranium mining in France"
610:Nuclear technology portal
505:Division Minière du Forez
1048:Uranium mines by country
744:Massot, Pascale (2024).
566:(Deux-Sèvres and Vendée)
545:Bellezane (Haute-Vienne)
512:Saint-Jean-la-Fouillouse
454:and northern Aquitaine.
261:French Equatorial Africa
233:Atomic Energy Commission
129:Uranium mining in France
750:Oxford University Press
718:Blanc, Jacques (2008).
656:Nuclear power in France
824:sigminesfrance.brgm.fr
806:sigminesfrance.brgm.fr
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520:the Écarpière mine in
517:Saint-Pierre (Cantal);
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413:(Hérault and Lozère),
273:Saint-Priest-la-Prugne
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557:Rophin (Puy-de-DĂ´me)
436:and Maine-et-Loire);
411:Languedoc-Roussillon
42:improve this article
560:La Ribière (Creuse)
986:Chareyron, Bruno.
820:"SIG Mines France"
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495:(Puy-de-DĂ´me) and
487:Les Bois-Noirs in
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759:978-0-19-777140-2
379:Location of mines
281:Adrar des Ifoghas
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40:Please help
35:verification
32:
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879:30 December
829:20 December
802:"L'Uranium"
572:(Haut-Rhin)
570:Teufelsloch
430:Deux-Sèvres
415:RhĂ´ne-Alpes
358:Orano Cycle
320:bid rigging
1037:Categories
917:Télégramme
899:Télégramme
682:27 January
662:References
552:Bertholène
481:(HĂ©rault);
458:Processing
253:Madagascar
162:) and the
98:March 2024
68:newspapers
992:ECARPIERE
582:Aquitaine
554:(Aveyron)
514:(Lozère);
336:antitrust
334:filed an
312:Rio Tinto
160:Languedoc
726:: 35–43.
596:See also
467:Bessines
419:Auvergne
393:Deposits
269:Gueugnon
249:Limousin
156:Limousin
152:Auvergne
141:military
1043:Uranium
1025:. 2017.
956:. 2015.
919:. 2011.
901:. 2012.
874:Mimausa
854:14 June
522:Gétigné
503:). The
493:Lachaux
479:Le Bosc
401:in the
289:Tibesti
283:, AĂŻr,
275:in the
237:Lachaux
224:, when
199:uranium
192:uranium
170:History
82:scholar
756:
678:. 2009
444:Alsace
426:Vendée
326:, and
308:cartel
285:Hoggar
218:France
211:Cogema
188:France
84:
77:
70:
63:
55:
1023:(PDF)
497:Grury
473:Jouac
245:Grury
137:civil
89:JSTOR
75:books
881:2016
856:2011
831:2015
754:ISBN
684:2017
580:and
578:Alps
452:Alps
259:and
139:and
61:news
442:in
424:in
373:ore
251:),
216:In
44:by
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