The howling bichon dog mine

Here is a mining exploration conducted in an incredibly glowing environment: bauxite. This is the Bichon Hurleur mine, and honestly, given the name given to this mine, I feel like I don't need to spell out the reasons why. This documentary dates from 2016.

We begin the journey with the two entrances to the casual walker. These mines are located near a psychoroute. It's not very busy, but the traffic moves fast and it's difficult to get out! The entrances are located in small, discreet descenderies, almost in the vineyards, which is surprising. They are two entrances with a rather nice appearance, let's say a “big steel gate” look.

Inside the mine, there is a grid of pillars turned along a 10-15% dip. Entrance 1 connects to entrance 2. It's quite small, taking about half an hour to explore and take photos. Some passages are a little unsightly: concrete pillars, flooding, a transformer, a fan.

The mystery lies in the fact that the underground area looks well maintained, as if it were still in operation, yet it is in a state of total abandonment. The fan is powered by 380 volts. What's more, everything seems flooded and uninteresting. Without an explanation, we don't know any more.

We decide to go down to the factory on foot. Going around a mound, we visit the grasshopper area: the transport of ore by mobile conveyors. We find a huge entrance with a huge descent. I enter the entrance and, to my amazement, after 15 meters it opens onto a quarry face.

Next to it are two huge entrances, one of which has a fan room. We go down, it's steep and... there's another quarry face after 15 meters. The explanation for these embryonic mines is not difficult to find. The state granted a permit for the opening of new underground mines. With a permit issued in the early 2010s, these were simply mines that were supposed to be operational by the end of 2015. However, it turns out that the economic situation has not supported this project for the time being.

We head to the mine shaft located a short distance away, but two dogs signal that they are not happy about our arrival. Beyond this area is the descent. It is difficult to enter because it is filled with rubble and large rocks, but I manage to make my way through. It descends steeply for 100 meters. It is cluttered with collapsed wood, a collapse in itself, and further on, flooding. The bottom is very gassy.

This concludes our visit to this bauxite area. It's a bit like a large truck mine on a small scale, but it's nice to explore these few small, discreet landscapes. I invite you to take a stroll through them in a few photos.