Stop Mines 03 organized three days of meetings with conferences,
debates, round tables, concerts, and much more, in response to the callfor international days against extractivism, which originated in Mexico
on July 22, 2009. The idea was revived in 2013 in Sarthe following
Arnaud Montebourg's statements on the revival of the mining industry in
France. Stop Mines 23 (Creuse) subsequently continued the adventure for
several years, opposing gold mining projects in its region and in French
Guiana.
Where were we?
The camp was held in a small town, La Celle, halfway between Echassières
(lithium mine) and Montluçon (refining plant). Why is this so important
to write about? To warmly thank the Mayor of this town and her husband,
who graciously provided us with several hectares of their farmland, as
well as a free electricity and water supply. Their support in a hostile
environment and despite pressure from the authorities is to be
commended! As proof, we learned that our hosts had 70 meters of their
fence cut from top to bottom, thus risking some of their animals
wandering, not to mention the costs incurred.
Neither Here, Nor Elsewhere!
Since the creation of Stop Mines 03 in January 2023, the "Neither here,
nor elsewhere" movement has been championed in response to the "not
here" stance of defenders of the living environment and the "take our
share of the ecological disaster" of die-hard environmentalists.
Following our information tour and various meetings, we established
links with other collectives in France, such as Stop Mines, as well as
those fighting against the digitalization of society, militarism and
weaponry, nuclear power, and the extraction of raw materials. We are in
contact with several European collectives, in Portugal, Spain, Germany,
Serbia, and Belgium, as well as with collectives from the Americas,
Argentina, Quebec, and Africa in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo),
many of which were represented at the meetings.
"Ni ici" (Not here) must emphasize that the more mining takes place in
our regions, the more extraction can only increase exponentially
elsewhere, due to the growing demand for minerals, metals, and rare
earths unavailable in our countries.
The Camp
Several conferences/debates were held, covering minerals and weapons, an
overview of the struggles against Imérys (the multinational behind the
Echassières mine project), legal tools in the struggles, a gesticulated
conference on the struggle, the Emili project in Echassières, myths and
realities of the ecological transition, militarism and anti-militarism
in AURA (Auvergne Rhône-Alpes), victories in our struggles, extractivism
and radioactivity. Workshops, collective travel to demonstrations,
collective defense and anti-rep. knowledge and practical tools.
Roundtable discussions, organizing the fight against extractivism in
France, fighting extractivism and strengthening international
solidarity. And nature walks and a Toxic Tour in the Colettes Forest. As
an aside, the interpretation provided by the Allier prefecture, which
led to its inclusion in one of the orders restricting our movements,
concerns the anti-republic movement, transcribed as a rally advocating
an anti-republican discourse: Hi! Hi! Hi!
The discussions at the first roundtable (organizing the fight against
extractivism in France) gave rise to a very interesting debate between
the various groups present. We (Stop Mines 03) were confronted with an
unscheduled general assembly. The organizer's initial idea was
interpreted as centralizing the struggle, which upset him. At the end of
the discussions, however, everyone was very satisfied with the direction
of this roundtable, which they described as meaningful and "democratic."
Another issue was raised: that of the Sunday demonstration. The question
being, what was the purpose of the demonstration? In our communications,
we had announced a festive, colorful, and family-friendly parade. This
posed a problem for some! We couldn't meet their expectations
immediately, so the decision was made to hold our general meeting that
evening to clarify our position and share it with them the following day
at noon. We prepared a text that we read to them on Saturday at noon.
The ensuing discussions revealed a different vision between urban and
rural activists, and between seasoned activists and novice activists.
But the message got through: we were still holding a festive, colorful,
and family-oriented parade. According to the canteen's count, 350 meals
had been served on Saturday, with more people passing through adding to
the number.
The Demonstration
Early Sunday morning, a two-part meeting was planned to organize the
demonstration. First, the strategic part: re-specifying the march's
goals and agreeing to depart in a convoy, the objective of which was to
resist identity checks by blocking traffic if necessary and forming a
solid base when exiting vehicles. Second, the legal team part, with the
distribution of contact details for the lawyer and the anti-rep contact.
The convoy went smoothly until Lapeyrouse, a small town not far from
Echassières, where a gendarmerie checkpoint was positioned. The
implementation of our strategy allowed us to break through the
checkpoint. When we arrived in Echassières, a much larger gendarmerie
delegation was waiting for us, and also a little more angry, but they
let us park in the designated spot. It was on our way back, as we were
returning to the community hall, where we were supposed to eat, that
they blocked us, even though the demonstration had been declared. The
local gendarmerie's superior informed us that given the number of masked
people, it was out of the question to allow them to demonstrate. After
discussion over lunch, we decided to apply the same strategy as for the
roadblock: force their way through, which proved unnecessary as the
supreme authority's instructions were not carried out. The demonstration
proceeded as planned, with a festive, colorful, and family-friendly
parade. Note, however, that there was some graffiti and some flag damage
as we passed by the town hall. The deployment of Republican forces,
visible only inside the mine enclosure, privately owned by Imérys,
reassured us about the foundations of the rule of law in our capitalist
societies. Four members of the internal intelligence services traveled
part of the way with us, until the decision was made to dismiss them.
Echassières demonstration on July 27, 2025
All this may seem trivial to some, but in our countryside, where respect
for authority and conversations with internal intelligence and
gendarmerie officers under the pretext that they are friendly and/or
family are commonplace, it was necessary to highlight this.
A count, according to our JPE acquaintance, gave the figure of 400
people, which for a town of fewer than 400 inhabitants is very
satisfactory (especially since half of the participants were locals).
For comparison, this would correspond to 2 million people in Paris, but
no, I'm joking! However, many locals were unable to attend because the
roads leading to Echassières were closed. Drone overflight authorized by
prefectural decree.
The return to base camp was almost uneventful, except that a car wanted
for refusing to pass a checkpoint in the previous days and lost in the
convoy was spotted, and an attempt by the police to intercept it was
thwarted using the same strategy as on the outward journey: collective
action.
What is the status of the project?
Following the public inquiry into the pilot phase, building permits were
granted for the crushing plant in Echassières and the conversion plant
in Saint-Victor (near Montluçon) at a scale of 1:80 and 1:160 of the
industrial phase. An exemption to begin work before approval by the
environmental authority was not granted. This pushes back the start of
construction to the end of 2025.
We learned through the press that the multinational Imérys is postponing
the start of the industrial phase to 2030 instead of 2028. But for twice
as long, i.e., 50 years instead of 25, due to a much larger deposit than
initially estimated.
Furthermore, Imérys's stock price has plummeted following the collapse
in the price of lithium, which is currently around EUR10 per kg, for an
extraction price between EUR7 and EUR9 per kg, an amount mentioned in
the Imérys filing.
Furthermore, the investment estimate, originally estimated at EUR1
billion, has risen to EUR1.8 billion.
As we can see above, the benefits are no longer just ecological, but
financial, but who doubted that?
Our victories!
The first victory is, first and foremost, our work of information,
contacts, and meetings over the past three years. This, along with
valuable external assistance, has allowed us to organize three days of
collective meetings against extractivism, which challenges the
capitalist organization of territories.
For many of us, the unbanning of the demonstration in Echassières is
already a victory in itself.
Despite the latest information we have received about the project, which
is due more to current geopolitics than to a real abandonment of the
project, we remain attentive and in the fight!
DAGE August 2025
P.S. To learn more about the project, see Current Alternative issues
326, 330, 340, 343, 347, and 352, as well as
livresdhenri.lautre.net/Le-lithium-creature-du-capitalocene
livresdhenri.lautre.net/On-ne-va-pas-se-laissez-miner
livresdhenri.lautre.net/Info-tour-le-lithium-en-question-mais-pas-seulement
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4533
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