Press release

The French and Norwegian Geological Surveys formalise a partnership

On Monday 31st March, Christophe Poinssot, Deputy Director General of BRGM, and May Britt Myhr, Director of Norges geologiske undersøkelse (NGU), signed a memorandum of understanding to structure joint work in the field of mineral resources.

4 April 2025

May Britt Myhr, présidente du NGU, et Christophe Poinssot, directeur général délégué du BRGM, lors de la signature du protocole d'accord entre les deux services géologiques, le 31 mars 2025.

BRGM and NGU have long-established expertise in mineral resources and are both members of the pan-European organisation EuroGeoSurvey, which includes 37 EU member and non-member countries. To share their common expertise more efficiently, the two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding in Paris on 31 March 2025 in the presence of the Norwegian Minister for Trade and Industry, Cecilie Myrseth, and the French Minister for Industry and Energy, Marc Ferracci.

The agreement provides for the development of mineral intelligence within the Norwegian Geological Survey, via the French Observatory of Mineral Resources for Industrial Sectors (OFREMI), of which BRGM is a co-founder. It should also provide a framework for joint work on mapping and inventorying strategic minerals, at a time when European countries are engaged in a race to secure their metal supplies. Other energy sources (geothermal energy, natural hydrogen, etc) will also be the subject of technical discussions, scientific visits, seminars and joint projects.

This memorandum of understanding is valid for a renewable period of three years.

Testimony

We are particularly keen to learn more about how BRGM is working on value chain analyses through its minerals observatory, OFREMI. This is why mineral intelligence is included in our forthcoming collaboration. This is a capability that we don't have in Norway, but which is also very relevant for NGU.

May Britt Myhr, NGU Director

On the French side, we are particularly interested in sharing and developing innovative exploration approaches with a country like Norway, which has a long history of involvement in the mining industry, whereas France virtually stopped mining a few decades ago. In addition, the question of the social acceptability of mining activities is essential, and we would be very happy to benefit from Norway’s experience in this respect.

Christophe Poinssot, BRGM Deputy Managing Director