Giant mine devours fertile dunes

Eramet Grande Cote floating Wet Concentration Plant in the Lompoul desert. The ‘world’s biggest mining dredger’ has swallowed up acre after acre of the fertile coastal strip where most of Senegal’s vegetables are grown. The ragged 23km scar it has left after harvesting zircon – which is used in ceramics – is so large, it is visible from space. The gigantic rig sucks up thousands of tonnes of mineral sands an hour, moving forward on an artificial lake created with water it pumps from deep underground. — AFP

LIKE something from the sci-fi epic Dune, the world’s largest mining dredger is devouring Senegal’s coastal farmland, displacing thousands and carving a 23km scar so vast it’s visible from space.

The rig, operated by French mining giant Eramet, sucks up thousands of tonnes of mineral sands per hour, leaving an artificial lake in its wake.