Announcement of the closure of the Trélazé slate quarries

Published on 19 December 2013 - Updated 06 January 2014
Cet article date d'il y a plus de 10 ans

On 25 November 2013, the Ymeris group, which owns the Trélazé slate quarries, announced that the site was to be closed down with the exception of activities in connection with use of slate waste in landscaping projects, which means that only 7 jobs will be kept out of the present 160. The site has been quarried for over 1000 years, supplying the slate tiles so typical of Loire Valley architecture.

The group insists that deposits are now exhausted, whereas the unions concerned are contesting the decision, which, according to them, was made with profitability in mind. Local officials from the agglomeration of Angers held an extraordinary meeting on the subject on Thursday 18 December. 

Press coverage:

Web documentary on the quarries and their quarrymen

Courrier de l’Ouest turns the floor over to Trélazé’s quarrymen, who tell of their lives as miners and the memories that remain with them. The photographer Christine Tourneux has also opened up her photographic archives. She spent 1998 in the depths of the mines, photographing an outstanding report for which she was awarded the young reporter’s prize at the Scoop Festival in Angers. 

On the web:

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