Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes is a French company headquartered in Limoges. A subsidiary of the Canadian company Aquitaine Metals Corp., Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes specializes in mineral exploration.
Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes is committed to providing transparent information about its mining exploration project in the Haute-Vienne region of France's Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. The company holds three exclusive research permits (PER) and wishes to provide clear and useful information, independently of the regulatory procedures for consulting stakeholders. This is an initial commitment to information and dialogue on the project and its adaptations.
Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes It conducts studies on groundwater and surface water to establish an inventory of water resources and monitor their evolution over two to three years, across several climatic cycles. The extension of the Douillac PER (Plan d'Études et de Recherches - Research and Study and Research Project) allows for a broader investigation area around the former mining sites.
Mineral resources belong to the French nation. The PER is a government decision granting a company exclusive rights to carry out a mineral exploration project. It is a preliminary administrative step. The PER does not research work likely to have a significant impact. Such work, depending on its nature, is subject either to prior declaration to the competent authority (the prefecture) or to authorization, which is subject to a public inquiry. A PER is issued on the basis of the applicant's technical and financial capabilities. It is valid for 3 to 5 years, and may be renewed twice.
In October 2022, the French government granted the Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes 3 Exclusive Mining Research Permits (PERM).
With this decision, the French government authorizes the Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes to carry out mineral exploration in a defined area, with the guarantee of exclusive rights for a period of 3 years, until October 2025.
7,11 km²
In the municipalities of Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche and Le Chalard.
3,13 km²
In the municipalities of Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche and La Roche-l'Abeille.
29,53 km²
In the municipalities of Coussac-Bonneval, Château-Chervix, Saint-Priest-Ligoure, Meuzac and La Roche-l'Abeille.
Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes filed a request for extension for five years, in February 2024 for the PER Douillac and Pierrepinet and in June 2025 for the PER Fayat, extending the validity of the PER to October 2030.
The three PERs were granted for a period of three years from the date of publication in the Official Journal of the French Republic on October 22, 2022, i.e. until October 22, 2025. Extension requests are currently being processed by State services.
Beyond October 22, 2025, the validity of PER is extended by right without formality, in the two-year limit pending the final decision of the State's investigating services, in accordance with Article L142-2-2 of the Mining Code :
The following information is required by the public authorities for a PER application:
The request triggers two separate procedures, the competitive bidding and the appraisal.
Competitive bidding allows other potential applicants to come forward during a one-month period.
It is in application of articles 18 and 19 of decree n° 2006-648 of June 2, 2006 relating to mining titles and underground storage titles, that permit applications are subject to a call for competition lasting 30 days from the date of publication of the notice in the Official Journal of the French Republic (JORF).
Appraisal of the applications submitted is underway simultaneously. It also complies with the requirements of Decree 2006-648, with the Direction Régionale de l'Environnement, de l'Aménagement et du Logement (DREAL) acting as examining authority.
This procedure is followed by a 15-day electronic public consultation on the Ministry of Mines website.
In January 2024, the Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes submitted an application to expand the Douillac PER, bringing the total surface area to 297.98 km². This application concerns the communes of Château-Chervix, Coussac-Bonneval, Glandon, Ladignac-le-Long, La Meyze, La Roche-l'Abeille, Le Chalard, Meuzac, Saint-Priest-Ligoure, Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche in the Haute-Vienne department, and Jumilhac-le-Grand in the Dordogne department.
An application to expand a PER is subject to the same procedure as the granting of a PER. It therefore involves a competitive bidding process and public consultation.
This request to extend the scope of the Douillac PER aims to broaden the scope of the research. Indeed, the information gathered during the study of historical archives highlights a very vast sector of mining interest extending well beyond the perimeters of the three PERs granted. It will also allow greater flexibility in locating exploration work in areas that are less sensitive from an environmental or societal point of view.
Ongoing environmental studies and ongoing contacts with local stakeholders have identified these sensitive areas within the PER perimeters.
In February 2026, the State granted to the Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes the extension for 5 years and the extension over an area of approximately 298 km² of the PER Douillac and the extension for 5 years of the PER Pierrepinet.
By decree of February 16, 2026, published in the Official Journal of the French Republic on February 20, 2026, the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial, Energy and Digital Sovereignty grants:
These extensions and expansions are subject to compliance with specifications prohibiting survey work in the flood zones identified in the flood zone plan of the municipality of Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche and in the wetlands listed in the application files.
Furthermore, mining operations are prohibited within the Natura 2000 area "Palouse et heathe serpentinicole du sud de la Haute-Vienne".
Order published in the Official Journal on February 20, 2026 granting the extension and expansion of the Douillac PER
Order published in the Official Journal on February 20, 2026 granting the extension of the Pierrepinet PER
The following information is required by the public authorities for a PER application:
The request triggers two separate procedures, the competitive bidding and the appraisal.
Competitive bidding allows other potential applicants to come forward during a one-month period.
It is in application of articles 18 and 19 of decree n° 2006-648 of June 2, 2006 relating to mining titles and underground storage titles, that permit applications are subject to a call for competition lasting 30 days from the date of publication of the notice in the Official Journal of the French Republic (JORF)
Appraisal of the applications submitted is underway simultaneously. It also complies with the requirements of Decree 2006-648, with the Direction Régionale de l'Environnement, de l'Aménagement et du Logement (DREAL) acting as examining authority.
This procedure is followed by a 15-day electronic public consultation on the Ministry of Mines website.
As soon as the PER was granted in October 2022, Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes submitted its work program for late 2022 and 2023 to the Haute-Vienne prefecture. The same applies to subsequent years: the declaration of the work program for the coming year must be submitted to the prefecture before December 31 of the current year.
Depending on their nature, these works will be subject to declaration, or to authorization with an impact study which will be carried out before public inquiry. With the completion of one or other of these procedures, the exploration works will be able to take place during the validity period of the PER.
The exploration phase, including studies and work, will gradually be based in particular on the following activities:
Technical and economic analyses will then make it possible to estimate the environmental, economic, social and industrial viability of the project.
The PERs will enable Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes to develop an exploration project for the following substances:
gold, silver, antimony, tungsten, tin, molybdenum, lithium, niobium, tantalum, copper, zinc, lead, beryllium, cobalt, germanium, indium, platinum, rare earths and related substances.
France has identified several of these substances as "critical" :
The existence of such resources in the French subsoil is possible but largely unknown. The geological origins of the presence of gold in Limousin are conducive to the existence of these strategic substances.
It is very clearly established that It is the search for gold that can finance the search for strategic substances and thus contribute to the security of supply objectives for the needs of the ecological and digital transition.
The Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes project is therefore particularly in line with opinion 2020-3 of November 23, 2020 of the Conseil National de la Transition Écologique (CNTE) relating to the research and exploration of mineral substances.
The CNTE stressed that:
“Mining resources are at the heart of society’s challenges – the spread of new technologies requiring an exponential diversity of metal types, particularly for the ecological and digital transition”
And considered:
"Firstly, that research and exploration allow for the improvement of knowledge of deposits likely to meet future needs or uses; secondly, that the exploitation of these resources in France and in Europe responds to a challenge of general interest, when it participates in strategic independence and contributes to sustainable, resilient and responsible supplies from the point of view of both production and consumption".
Put forward in December 2023 by the European Parliament, the Raw Materials Regulation (CRM Act) aims to strengthening the competitiveness and sovereignty of the European Union.
34 critical raw materials have been identified, 17 of which are also strategic. 9 of these 34 critical raw materials are present in the list substances sought by the Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes.
This is a research project, the outcome of which will depend on a set of findings on the presence of the sought-after mining substances and on the economic, environmental and societal conditions allowing an exploitation project to be considered at a later stage and procedure.
While it is in everyone's interest to know as much as possible about what mining might look like at a given site, only the exploration phase will allow us to estimate the size, type and impact of such a facility.
In view of the progress of the research work of the Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes on the PERs granted, it is premature to put forward hypotheses on the exploitation project. This subject will be addressed in due course when the information of geological, technical, economic, environmental and social interest will be available to study this new stage of the project in its entirety.
The start of the mining phase would require two new administrative procedures: the granting of a mining concession, following a public inquiry, and the authorization of mining operations, following a public inquiry. The Environmental Code ensures public participation at these key stages. This right is guaranteed by the Constitution.
Compagnie des Mines Arédiennes considers that the mining research project must also focus on the study of a method of exploitation and consideration of society and the environment, in line with current aspirations.
If the project can be completed with the construction of a treatment plant, it could represent an opportunity for a reprocessing of old mining waste with reduced environmental impact.
The first research will be undertaken on land still belonging to the former mining operators. They will also be an opportunity to study the possibilities of providing a environmental added value in these territories.
Developments in processing techniques and the strategic interest of new substances offer the prospect of being able to recover, from current deposits of mining waste, mineral substances that were not sought at the time and whose exploitation could lead not only to a better recovery of mineral resources but also to an environmental benefit. These studies, undertaken from the preliminary phase, will provide a better knowledge of the land and will guide the search for the most environmentally friendly treatment techniques.
Environmental studies precede geological investigations. They provide an ecological diagnosis of the PER area. A fauna and flora inventory is carried out, including the identification of protected species present on site, and a habitat map is drawn up. Fieldwork is carried out over several climatic cycles.
This ecological diagnosis allows us to: identify sensitive areas by their fauna, flora or habitat and to direct geological research towards other less sensitive areas.
Initial in-depth estimates of environmental impacts indicate that the exploration phase will have mainly temporary impacts related to the duration of the exploration phase. The work will have a limited footprint in space and time, and will be carried out in a way that ensures its reversibility. The impact on the landscape will also be limited in time.
