News

On February 12th, 2010 ERAMET and BOLLORE signed an agreement for the exploration of lithium deposits in Argentina.

The white metal's great electrochemical potential gives it unique properties that can be used to store and transport high electrical charges. Vehicle manufacturers are taking a close interest in lithium as it could be a strategic factor in electric car production.

ERAMET'S partner in this area is the BOLLORE Group, which has developed the Blue Car, an innovative electric vehicle. With bodywork by Pininfarina, the Blue Car has the specificity of running on a lithium battery developed by BOLLORE and should be on the market by the end of 2010. The BOLLORE Group is drawing on ERAMET's mining expertise: while lithium resources are abundant, the new deposits still have to be operated and new techniques developed to turn the ore into metal.

UKAD’s role will be to manufacture and sell titanium products for the aerospace market (landing gear, wings, fuselage, etc.).
The unit will be built in 2009 and 2010 and should start production in September 2011.
This 47M€ project has won the support of Airbus and EADS with a contract signed guaranteeing UKAD approximately $1 billion in manufacturing business through to 2020.

On 2 December 2007, Aubert & Duval will be celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of its industrial brand, one of the most prestigious in the world of metallurgy.

A number of events will be taking place throughout September and October at the company’s Issoire-Interforge, Airforge-Pamiers, Les Ancizes and Firminy sites and elsewhere.

The Interforge site at Issoire, renowned for its 65,000-tonne closed-die forging press, which is the most powerful in the western world, is also celebrating 30 years of existence.

On April 17, Eramet inaugurated its new Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide plant at Chongzuo (Guangxi Province).

This $29m investment will allow Eramet to respond to the strong growth in demand seen in the Chinese market for alkaline batteries.

The site is similar to the Group’s existing unit at New Johnsonville (United States). The Chongzuo plant is supplied with ore from the Comilog mine in Gabon, and employs 150 people.

The completion of the project is a success for the group’s Chinese, US and French teams who worked efficiently in partnership to carry it out.

The Eramet Group in Gabon has launched an ambitious policy for fighting AIDS among Comilog’s employees and their families.

The programme, launched officially on November 3rd in the presence of Gabonese State representatives, is structured along three lines: prevention, encouraging screening (free anonymous testing) and providing medical care.
      

Three questions for Marcel Abéké, Comilog Director & CEO

What were the high points in the Gamma project launch on November 2nd and 3rd in Moanda?

Marcel Abéké: The most memorable moments for me during the two days were the testimonies of the two HIV-positive people and the remarkable contribution by the minister for the fight against AIDS, who knew how to reach the many young people at the stadium.

What impact can we expect such an action to have on the AIDS plague in Gabon?

Marcel Abéké: Through this action, we intend to raise our operatives’ awareness of the existence of AIDS and its repercussions for their life and that of the company. We pledge to our people that we will take on the medical side. This project was launched with the aim of blocking the spread of the pandemic.

 What is your feeling about the two days of inauguration?

Marcel Abéké: My overriding impression is one of satisfaction. I remain optimistic about the action in progress, bearing in mind that the hardest task still lies ahead – setting up a consistent and pragmatic process that leads as many people as possible to join in.

The 40,000 t press successfully forged its first lot of parts (spars for the Airbus A320) on Friday 16 June. As well as the production teams, the plant’s managers, the industrial designers, the project team and representatives of the builders of the press were present. Alain Pradoura congratulated everybody who contributed to the success of the project, pointing out that ‘the challenge of forging the first part for qualification by the end of June has been met’.

23 March 2006 - Aubert & Duval, a world leader in special steels, alloys and superalloys is today inaugurating a tool steel distribution centre in Wuxi near Shanghai, China.

This 5 million dollar investment will enable Aubert & Duval to conquer the Chinese high-grade tool steel market estimated at 50,000 tonnes per year. The new company, Aubert & Duval Moulds and Die Technology Co. Ltd, will be involved with marketing, pre-machining and heat treatment of steels used in the manufacture of moulds for industrial sectors such as automotive, glass, plastics etc. The Wuxi service centre (3000 m²) includes a warehouse as well as storage, cutting, machining and vacuum heat treatment facilities. The centre handles distribution of products manufactured by the Aubert & Duval factories based in Firminy (Loire) and Les Ancizes (Puy-de-Dôme), France. The Chinese unit which currently employs specialist staff in sales, metallurgical and technical support should grow to a 50-strong workforce within the next five years.

Implemented in partnership with Thermi-Lyon, which is contributing up to 15% of the overall investment, the program is a first for Aubert & Duval which had not had any distribution structure in China up to now.

This investment will contribute to the growth strategy of the Eramet group, which aims to strengthen its three divisions and, particularly, to develop its activities in China.

Within the context of the Group’s safety results, Erachem’s Tertre (Belgium) site, which specialises in the production of manganese salts and oxides and in recycling batteries and copper solutions, has recorded very positive trends. The site once posted 10 lost-time accidents but cut that figure down to 2 in 2005, its best-ever performance. In parallel, Tertre turned its economic situation around. Site manager Pascal Van Huffel sees that result as an encouragement for his teams.