Batteries: the clash of rare metals

Reserved for subscribers

Lithium, nickel, rare earths, copper… Getting out of dependence on fossils will require a colossal quantity of metals. Their availability is not guaranteed.

By Geraldine Woessner

L’announcement immediately aroused passionate reactions, in a country where only a handful of quarries are no longer exploited: the French industrial minerals group Imerys will open in the Allier, by 2027, one of the largest mines of lithium from Europe. Eventually, the operator hopes to extract from a hole 75 to 300 meters deep enough minerals to equip the batteries of 700,000 electric cars per year, a first step towards” independence “ promised by Emmanuel Macron when he embraced Europe’s desire to ban all sales of thermal vehicles from 2035. “We have the means to have a 100% circular and sovereign sector”, ignited the president, raising in the assistance gathered at the Motor Show a few cents…

.

Exclusive offers: -50% the first year