2023-10-23 22:23:00
In Senegal, zircon mining continues and is now advancing on the large coast north of Dakar. It is getting closer and closer to the lucrative tourist desert area of Lompoul which might be experiencing its last season.
From our correspondent in Dakar
The floating dredge and its sand sorting plant are gradually moving northwards along the Atlantic coast. Since 2014, these machines have been pumping Senegalese sand to extract le zircon, but also ilmenite, rutile and leucoxene. Ores that make it possible to produce ceramics or white pigments in paint, plastic or paper.
The company Grande Côte Opérations (GCO), 90% owned by the French mining company Eramet and 10% by the Senegalese state, has become the fourth zircon producer in the world in less than ten years. After a record 804,000 tonnes of mineralized sand concentrate extracted in 2021, including 15% zircon, production fell slightly in 2022, but the figures are expected to increase from 2024, because the first part of the Lompoul desert on which the dredge arrives “ has a high ore content and the dunes are high », explains Guillaume Kurek, general director of GCO.
The results
The zircon exploitation project required an initial investment of 800 million euros. Secondly, it experienced several phases of growth, notably with the start-up of a new dry unit at the end of 2022. But this lucrative phase for Eramet has a negative impact on the environment, because the mine passes through villages , market gardening areas, especially in the tourist desert of Lompoul, camps will have to pack up to let the dredge pass. A petition launched to “save the Lompoul desert” last March collected nearly 1,500 signatures.
In return, GCO highlights its role in Senegal’s economy. For example, she reconstructed a “desert oasis” from scratch to ensure continuity of tourist activities. “ We have created more than 2,000 local jobs and we are the sixth largest contributor to the state budget in terms of mining company », boasts Guillaume Kurek, boss of the company which has a turnover of 300 million euros. Grande Côte Opérations estimates the benefits for Senegal at more than 120 million euros, an amount which takes into account the jobs created, local purchases for the operation of the industry and taxes paid to the State.
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