Construction of CIME at Bessines: good start!

On September 10, the cornerstone of the new Innovation Center for Extractive Metallurgy  (CIME) was laid at the Bessines-sur-Gartempe site, France.

The Innovation Center for Extractive Metallurgy develops scientific and technical solutions to meet the needs of its customers in the fields of energy, the environment, industrial recycling, health, minerals and ores processing and engineering.

CIME is revamping its industrial offer by bringing together the current teams and equipment of SEPA within a single building of 8,300 m² to continue developing its end-to-end or tailor-made offer, from initial studies to the industrial pilot, in a state-of-the-art environment. The new building, which is due for completion in 2021, represents the investment of 30 million euros. 

“The construction of this new equipment is fully in line with the new outlook of the Group: we, employees of Orano, are all here and very proud of this moment,” said Régis Mathieu, Director of the site. For the Mayor of Bessines, first vice-president of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, Andréa Brouille, this project “shows the will to move forward and believe in the future”.

The new CIME will increase activity for the back end of the Orano group's nuclear cycle but also extend our metals recovery activities outside the group. “We are working on all extraction processes for plants located internationally, in Kazakhstan, Niger, Canada ... We work with uranium, but not only with uranium,” explains Pascal Nardoux, Head of SEPA.

As part of the construction work, “80% of sub-contracted services will be carried out by local and regional companies. We want this project to be exemplary in terms of workplace safety and the environment,” says Guillaume Porche, Project Director. “We are dealing with people for whom public interest matters and who take safety concerns very seriously,” says Pascale Silbermann, Sub-Prefect of Bellac-Rochechouart.

Finally, Nicolas Maes, Mining BU Senior Executive Vice President, closed the ceremony by paying tribute to the quality of the cooperation with elected officials and the authorities as well as the determination of the teams to delivering the project. He reiterated the ambitions of the CIME: “I hope that this investment is a vehicle for accelerating the development of your business, for research and the acquisition of new markets within and beyond the Group, in France and internationally.”

See you in 2021 for the inauguration.