The industrial minerals group Imerys announced on Monday the start of mining by 2027 of a lithium deposit (white powder which intoxicates the electric battery industry and should allow cars to wean themselves off CO2-emitting oil) in the Allier in France (center), which will be “one of the largest” in Europe, and will serve to accelerate the energy transition by supplying the electric car industry.
The “Emili” project, announced Monday morning by the French industrial minerals group Imerys, will help Europe shed its almost complete dependence on China for the lithium needed for the batteries of electric cars, which are supposed to be the only new vehicles that can be sold in the European Union from 2035.
“Very attractive” lithium “concentrations”
The planned investment amounts to one billion euros to exploit for at least 25 years a deposit whose “concentrations and quantities” have been deemed “very attractive” after 18 months of underground drilling and studies, a indicated Imerys in a press release. Beauvoir, which since 1850 has hosted a quarry producing 30,000 tons of kaolin per year for porcelain or tiles.