What if our ancient mines held the keys to our technological future?
Today, I’m proud to announce a new adventure: the start of my PhD in Earth Sciences, on a subject at the crossroads of history and the future.
My playground? The Massif Central, a region with breathtaking landscapes and a rich industrial history.
My objective? To explore the Massif Central’s historic deposits and mine tailings for critical high-tech metals. These forgotten treasures could well be the solution to some of the challenges of the energy transition.
Imagine exploring a part of our history to meet the technological and ecological challenges of the future.
A bit like Indiana Jones swapping his whip for a map of strategic metals (and laboratory tools, of course)!
Why is this crucial?
Because these metals are indispensable for our smartphones, batteries and even the wind turbines that capture the wind in the Massif Central.
Germanium, for example, is used in optical fibers, at the heart of modern communications systems, and even in radiotherapy. Gallium is essential for LED screens, while indium goes into the manufacture of touch screens and solar panels, technologies that are essential for the energy future.
Today, over 80% of the critical metals we depend on in Europe are imported (ππ΅πΆπ₯πΊ π°π― π΅π©π¦ ππ³πͺπ΅πͺπ€π’π ππ’πΈ ππ’π΅π¦π³πͺπ’ππ΄ π§π°π³ π΅π©π¦ ππ 2023). What if, instead of looking ever further afield, we looked first to our own historical reserves?
Reusing these resources means meeting two major challenges:
Economic: reducing our dependence on imports. Reusing these resources could diversify our supply and promote local industries.
Environmental: limiting the impact of new mining operations. Extracting metals in regions such as China can have a high environmental cost. Using existing mine tailings could be a cleaner, more sustainable alternative.
This is a current scientific challenge, which I am proud to take up within GexplOre, ISTerre – Institut des Sciences de la Terre and BRGM, as part of the Critical Metals in Orogens (CMiO) 2024-2028 ANR Project. Under the supervision of Emilie Janots, BΓ©nΓ©dicte Cenki-Tok, PhD and Dennis LahondΓ¨s.