Global demand for strategic metals and minerals continues to grow. The revival of prospecting and, ultimately, the exploitation of "primary" mineral resources, both in Europe and in France, seems unavoidable.
Mining activities in France and abroad are characterized by a legacy that is all the more cumbersome in that we have now forgotten the benefits derived from what we were able to extract in the past.
Open-pit mining generates the most visible environmental impacts, and many sites are still marked by persistent contamination that is difficult to get rid of.
Underground mining generates both short-term and long-term risks and impacts (structural disorders, collapses, gas emissions, contamination of aquifers) long after mining sites have been closed.
The European Union is supporting research projects (7th Framework Program for Research and Development) to prepare the renewal of mining activity in the form of deep mines, minimizing short- and long-term risks and impacts.
These "intelligent and innovative mines" will require us to meet scientific and technological challenges and take account of past lectures.
