At a glance
Supporting a secure and responsible supply of mineral resources in the face of growing demand
Some industries are highly vulnerable to variations in the supply of metals or geomaterials. These are often strategic and can be critical for the proper functioning of the French and European economy.
BRGM observes the life cycle and value chains of mineral raw materials and studies the geological, economic, geopolitical, environmental and social factors to which they are subject.
It also supports the setting-up of more responsible supply lines by proposing innovative solutions for discovering and exploiting primary mineral resources (from mines and quarries) and recovering secondary resources (from waste). In particular, it studies the formation of deposits and develops predictive approaches to facilitate their detection and exploration.
It is also developing eco-technologies to optimise ore processing and promote waste recycling to support more responsible mining and promote a more circular economy.
Geochemical sampling campaign.
© BRGM
Strategic challenges
Ensuring a responsible supply of mineral resources
Implementation of the energy and digital transitions goes hand in hand with a sharp increase in the need for mineral resources, which are already ubiquitous in the economy and are used in most consumer goods.
Recent crises, in particular the Covid-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine, have considerably heightened the concerns of the European Union, and France in particular, about securing the supply chains for some of these resources. This dependency means that our industrial sovereignty is at risk. It also raises ethical questions about transferring the impact of our lifestyles to production areas with fewer social and environmental regulatory constraints.
This context has led France and Europe to reconsider their policy on the relocation and responsible production of primary and secondary mineral resources, based on the best possible environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. In France, this led to the publication of the Varin Report in 2022, and in Europe to the adoption of the Critical Raw Materials Act in 2024, with targets for mining and metallurgical production and recycling in Europe.
Important measures such as the establishment of a raw materials observatory (OFREMI) in 2022 and the relaunching of a national inventory of mineral resources in 2024 have had a major impact on the institution's scientific priorities in this field, which also includes the development of a more circular economy.
Electronic and electrical waste: a deposit of metals and rare earths (Orléans, 2016).
© BRGM
Ambition
Strengthen BRGM’s capability, in France and abroad, for strategic exploration to discover new deposits
BRGM is one of the few scientific institutions to observe the life cycle of mineral raw materials and to intervene at several key stages in this cycle, from the identification of deposits (mines and quarries) to the implementation of their recycling (urban mines). It’s ambition is to strengthen its European leadership in this field to support the responsible supply of the French and European economic sectors for both public authorities and industry.
As part of OFREMI, it continues to monitor criticality and anticipate supply risks (by gathering economic intelligence).
BRGM's ambition is also to strengthen its capacity for strategic prospecting of deposits in France and abroad.
It also aims to develop responsible procurement, in particular through the development of innovative and eco-responsible processes.
BRGM's added value
- Its position spans the entire life cycle of mineral raw materials, from primary sources to recycling.
- A multidisciplinary capability combining R&D with expert knowledge in geology or process engineering.
- The capability to support upscaling from exploration to processes (mineral resource inventory, mineral processing and the Plat’Inn recycling pilot plant, along with modelling/simulation).
What kind of partnership initiatives?
Ensuring and securing the supply chains of critical minerals that are essential to companies
- Development of innovative tools and studies of how minerals flow through our consumer societies.
- Assessment of supply risks and competition between industrial sectors.
- Analysis of production systems.
- Comparative studies of the trajectories of mining projects and the factors influencing their development.
Optimising exploration strategies and developing advanced resource characterisation tools
- Prospective approaches based on the concept of metallogenic systems.
- Automated data processing.
- 3D geological modelling coupled with temporal reconstructions (4D).
- Multi-scale exploration and assessment of mineral resource potential.
- R&D in exploration techniques and interpretation of geochemical and geophysical data.
Designing innovative solutions for processing and adding value to primary and secondary mineral resources
- Development of geometallurgical approaches.
- Innovative minerallurgical and bio-hydrometallurgical solutions.
- Recovering waste flows and stocks (mining, industrial, urban).
Guaranteeing the traceability of mineral resources in the value chain to satisfy ethical and environmental conditions
- Advanced scientific tools for tracing metals and materials to help develop responsible sourcing approaches.
- R&D on responsible mining/sourcing concepts in conjunction with European and international standardisation.
