Artzamendi, Xoldokogaña, Suhalmendi, Mondarrain… The French mining company Sudmine is well aware of the Lapurdi Mountains. We can find a detailed description of both the subsoil and the surface in your official documents. The reason? Hunger for gold, for being contemplating the area between Sara and Kanbo.

In 2015, Sudmin asked the French State for a licence to search for gold in an area of 126 square kilometres, which is an exclusivity. If the news that had taken place between the citizens and the elect had first surprised, the cholera and the concern had soon taken over it. The “nonsense” of the project was manifested on 11 February in Ezpeleta: “One tonne of land destroyed for three or four grams of gold. What will remain of that subsoil that has been excavated? On the one hand, a hole and on the other the waste; the areas lost forever, which cannot be used for cultivation”.

Ainhoa, Kanbo, Ezpeleta, Jatsu, Haltsu, Itsasu, Larresoro, Senpere, Sara, Zuraide and Uztaritze are the other five people who have gained the most excitement in the program. The request for authorization was made without informing the residents about the project. “Nobody found out, they acted astutely, they didn’t name anyone,” says Panpi Olaizola, farmer of the Belazkabieta estate of Ezpeleta. The news came back: The Breton environmental group Douar Didoull informed the CADE association, which is working for environmental protection. In particular, they were affected by a mining project that was also secretly raised in Brittany, which was dedicated to looking carefully at the sector.

Later, in April, the response of the French Ministry of Economy will be known. In the meantime, residents had the opportunity to make their opinion heard in the public consultation held between 30 January and 17 February. Also at this stage, the cunning of the company complained that Martine Bouchet, a member of the CADE association: “Sudmin has not informed us that the consultation is there, neither we nor anyone.” However, they have used such a short time to show their opposition. Bouchet says it is “an urgent issue”, as the search permit involves the exploitation.

Authorisation with operation

If the Minister of Economic Affairs says yes, the company is entitled to exploitation. The French mining code includes this faculty. In short, the environmentalists in France and Iparralde regret that the legislation is in favour of the mining industry.

Through public meetings, a lawsuit that exceeds 4,400 signatures, concentrations and demonstrations, the opposition is on the street. There is also a clear message from the electorate: the mayors of all the Hungarian towns for mining purposes, the president of the Basque College, the regional council of New Aquitaine, several parliamentarians, the Minister for Agriculture and the Minister for the Environment, are all against. “I’m against it, because it would turn our environment and our economy upside down,” says Ms. Sylviane Alaux. He has just asked the Minister of Economic Affairs for an appointment: "You have to talk to the Minister of Economy through figures. I have done the calculations and I will tell you clearly: 763 jobs would be put at risk.”

The cause of the outrage is the pollution that would result from the gold mine and the deterioration of the agricultural sector. Martine Bouchet says pollution would be “inevitable.” Because moving the earth releases arsenic substances, acid minerals and the like. If it were an uncovered mine, following the course of the rain, pollution would spread through land and water: “The entire perimeter around the mine is threatened, groundwater layers, Errobi rivers and Urdazuri...”

Sudmin has posted a different message. It would be a “small size” gold pit, where gold could be “easily” obtained through “simple mechanical practices”, having a “weak effect” on the environment. All this is ensured through a “semi-industrial and participatory” project.

Games to Clean the Image

The report prepared by the research office Géoplusenvironnement also ensures that the impacts on water, air and the environment would be “very weak”. But if we look at the composition of this office, presented as an independent one, we can see that it has as its director Christian Vallier, also president of the company Sudmine.

You've got a three-phase search drawn. In the first year, unperforated research would be carried out (study of old mines, study of water, etc.). ). If positive results were obtained, the rocks would be re-examined for another six months, and later, if interesting gold remains were found, more exhaustive and fungible studies would be carried out. They say that the first two phases will have no impact on the environment. “They have acquired and remodeled our vocabulary. It is a falsehood, a mine lasts between three and ten years, it cannot be durable, while the waste does!” said Martine Bouchet.

Although Sudmin has said that it will only be the exploitation of second-class gold – both on land and in water – rivals fear that they too will be the first-class ones, which are inside the rocks. In particular, because in an official report by Sudmina they have written: “Subsequently, Sudmin could consult the renewal of the licence or the extension of the area to focus on the signals about first-order gold.” If that were the case, the destruction of the environment would be intensified, as the exploitation of gold within the rock is much more contagious.

Hundreds of farms at risk

“Land and water not only fascinate us, but damage the image of respect for the environment,” enrages Panpi Olaizola. Even though it doesn't have an exact number, the mine is going to shock "hundreds, and probably about 500 farms." A large number of players in the agricultural sector therefore disagree: The structure of the Ossau Irati saga, the Biperla de Ezpeleta producer union, the Xapata association made up of cherry producers in Itsasu, the Basque Country Chamber of Agriculture, the ELB syndicate, the Association of Tomorrow’s Land dedicated to organic cultivation, the Idoki origin marks, etc. The mining area is almost the entire area that serves the Biperra de Ezpeleta origin mark, with a total of 200 producers. They say it would be the “disaster” of this production, which is a productive sector of the local economy.

Other concerns include the expropriation of land. They require authorization from the owners for the research phase, not for the exploitation. In particular, if the land belongs to the State, they may occupy it without the consent of their owners.

Mine development

Bouchet said that this new plan should be among the objectives set by the French Government and that it seeks to reorient the economy. In other words, in 2012, the then Minister of Economy of Montebourg, Arnaud, presented the need for a development of mining. What Minister of Economy Emmanuel Macron confirmed in 2016: “If we want to reduce our dependence, we need a mining strategy; I am sure that a mining activity that respects environmental standards is possible.”

The reform of the mining code was presented in January in Parliament with the aim of curbing the challenge of environmental protection. Despite agreeing with the objective, the ecologists have seen the draft text with bad eyes. Among other things, because the right to exploit with the permission that comes with search exclusivity is almost automatic also in the new code.

In recent years, the French Government has distributed a number of permits for the search for gold. Today, however, there are no more gold mines, as the last one was in 2004. It was in the village of Salsigne, one of the most polluted areas in France.