France had never yet extracted lithium. This will change from 2028, according to Imerys. This French mining group “aims to become a reference supplier on the European market”, reports the Spanish media The Spanish. The announcement of the project in question, the exploitation of a lithium mine on a quarry located in Beauvoir, in the Allier, was taken up by several newspapers of the foreign press.
This type of exploitation, unprecedented in France, remains very rare on a European scale. While several projects are underway in various countries on the continent, Portugal is currently the only member of the European Union to operate a mine on its territory. According to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, quoted by the American media CNBC, the EU’s dependence on lithium produced in Asia is alarming.
“Today, China controls the global processing industry. Nearly 90% of rare earths and 60% of lithium are refined in China.”
The asserted desire of the EU to develop production on its territory does not prevent a form of competition between the projects carried out by the different Member States. The Spanish don’t hesitate to comp