In Allier, this XXL lithium deposit that could supply 700,000 car batteries per year

It is a large basin, 600 meters long and 300 meters wide. At the summit, about a hundred meters high, the Pines Collets mark the beginning of the forest, 2000 hectares of conifers, oaks and beech, which covers the south of the Allier department. A very clear line of demarcation separates the mica schist rocks, brown in color, from the almost white granite. On the granite portion, steps indicate human occupation.

At the last of them, a mechanical excavator fills a dump truck. Welcome to Beauvoir Mine, on the border between Allier and Puy-de-Dôme. On this Wednesday afternoon, the sun is shining, but it may snow as the mine is located at the foot of the Massif Central at an altitude of more than 700 meters above sea level. Today, the Emerys group uses Beauvoir granite to extract kaolin, which will be used to make porcelain. Tomorrow, this site could become one of the most important lithium mines in Europe