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Eramet

Eramet is a French multinational mining and metallurgy company, listed on the Euronext Paris exchange under the symbol ERA.

The company produces non-ferrous metals and derivatives, nickel alloys and superalloys, and high-performance special steels.

Through its subsidiary Société Le Nickel (SLN),[3] the company has its historical roots in nickel mining, and for over 100 years has maintained a large mining operation in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia. It is also a major producer of manganese from mines in Gabon.

Eramet's chairman and CEO as of 2017 was Christel Bories and its headquarters is in Paris.[4]

History

The company was founded with the funding of the Rothschild family (although they were careful to avoid being listed as founders of the company) in 1880. With discretion, the family took full control of the company in 1890.[5]

Between 1907 and 2007 the Aubert & Duval organization of Issoire France was owned by Eramet and formed part of its alloy division. The subsidiary was purchased by a consortium of Airbus, Safran and Tikehau Capital.[6]

In 2023, a worldwide fall in nickel prices exacerbated shortfalls in SLN's balance sheets, with ERAMET and the French government refusing to subsidise SLN.[7]

In 2024–2025 Eramet lost a bid to associate with Chile's National Mining Enterprise (ENAMI) in the lithium mining project of Salares Altoandinos. Subsequently it became embroiled in a legal battle with ENAMI over access rights in the project area.[8]

Activities

Eramet is organised into three activities:

  • ERAMET Manganese (48% of the group's turnover):[9] Eramet's subsidiary Comilog extracts manganese in the Moanda mine in Gabon and then transforms it in its metallurgical and chemical factories located in China, in Europe and in the United States.[10]
  • ERAMET Alloys (32% of the group's turnover):[9] Eramet elaborates special steels and superalloys as well as wrought pieces for the aeronautical and energy sectors.[11]
  • ERAMET Nickel (20% of the group's turnover):[9] Eramet's subsidiary, Le Nickel-SLN extracts nickel in five mines in New Caledonia, mainly to produce stainless steel.[12]

Global presence

Eramet’s 47 sites are divided across the five continents as follows:[9]

  • 22 in Europe, among which 13 in France
  • 13 in Asia and Pacific
  • 7 in North America
  • 2 in Latin America
  • 4 in Africa

Joint ventures

  • In 2012 Eramet subsidiary Aubert & Duval teamed up with Setforge and QuEST to start SQUAD, a closed-die forging company in India[13]

Corporate governance

Christel Bories, Eramet’s CEO, is at the head of the Board of Directors, which comprises nineteen members appointed for four years.[14]

The Executive Committee has eight members.[14]

Controversies

Indonesia operations

Eramet has business interests in Halmahera island in Indonesia, where mining is threatening the survival of the uncontacted Togutil people, also known as the Hongana Manyawa.[15] Eramet manages operations at the PT Weda Bay Nickel mine, the largest nickel mine in the world.[16] Weda Bay Nickel has the largest mining concession on Halmahera island and more than three-quarters of that concession overlaps with the territories of uncontacted Hongana Manyawa people.[17]

According to Survival International, there are around 3,500 Hongana Manyawa, and around 500 of them are uncontacted and refuse interactions with outsiders.[18] In October 2023, a video was released that showed uncontacted Hongana Manyawa warning logging companies to stay away from their lands as bulldozers destroyed their forest.[19] In June 2024, footage emerged of hungry members of the Hongana Manyawa asking miners at the Weda Bay Nickel mine for food after being forced off their lands.[20]

In November 2025, a member of the Hongana Manyawa people of the Halmahera island led a protest outside Eramet's headquarters in Paris. Ngigoro, who was born uncontacted in the Indonesian rainforest, said he had travelled to France to confront French Eramet over the destruction of his people’s land. He told the Morning Star: “If they don’t stop the mining, my uncontacted relatives will die. The companies are getting rich from our deaths.”[21]

Senegal operations

Eramet is also active in mineral sands mining in West Africa through its subsidiary Eramet Grande Côte, based in Senegal. Since 2014, this operation has extracted and processed heavy mineral sands along the Atlantic coast north of Dakar, producing zircon and titanium-bearing minerals such as ilmenite, rutile and leucoxene for export.[22] The project has caused environmental degradation and community tensions, especially in the Grand Côte area.[23]

External links

References

  1. Full-year results 2017 Eramet, retrieved 21 February 2018^
  2. ERAMET Results for 2017 : lights are green Eramet, retrieved 21 February 2018^
  3. Société Le Nickel^
  4. A new governance cycle starts for ERAMET with Christel Bories' appointment www.eramet.com, 24 February 2017, retrieved 29 December 2017^
  5. Donald Denoon. The Cambridge History of the Pacific Islanders Cambridge University Press, 1997^
  6. About: AUBERT & DUVAL, ENHANCING YOUR PERFORMANCE Aubert & Duval, retrieved 3 April 2021^
  7. France seeks deal to salvage New Caledonia's nickel sector 29 November 2023^
  8. ¿Qué hay detrás de la batalla judicial entre Enami y Eramet por el proyecto Salares Altoandinos de US$3.200mn en Chile? BNamericas, 2026-03-06, retrieved 2026-03-06^
  9. Our key figures eramet.com, retrieved 10 February 2018^
  10. Our activity retrieved 10 February 2018^
  11. Alloys-Our activity retrieved 10 February 2018^
  12. Nickel-Our activity retrieved 10 February 2018^
  13. https://www.aubertduval.com/wp-media/uploads/sites/2/pdf/2012_01_17_SQuAD_Press_Release_.pdf^
  14. Our Management retrieved 10 February 2018^
  15. Damien Gayle. Uncontacted hunter-gatherers facing threat of genocide because of minerals mining, claims report The Guardian, 2024-11-26, retrieved 2025-06-24^
  16. Operations Weda Bay Nickel, retrieved 2025-06-24^
  17. Survival International. Indigenous protester tells French mining giant: "Stop the mining or my people will die." survivalinternational.org, retrieved 2025-12-03^
  18. Hongana Manyawa Survival International, retrieved 2025-06-24^
  19. New "catastrophic" footage shows uncontacted tribe near nickel mine Survival International, 2023-10-30, retrieved 2025-06-24^
  20. Uncontacted tribe beg for food from miners who are destroying their land UNILAD, 2024-06-15, retrieved 2025-06-24^
  21. « Stoppez l'extraction de nickel, sinon mon peuple va mourir » : le message d'un représentant autochtone à la France sur la plus grande mine du monde en Indonésie 2025-11-27, retrieved 2025-12-03^
  22. Grande Cote (GCO) Operation MiningDataOnline, MiningDataOnline, retrieved 7 February 2026^
  23. Game of minerals in the sands of Senegal: Trade-offs between growth, sustainability and justice in Senegal's "desert" mining The Nordic Africa Institute, Nordic Africa Institute, 6 February 2026, retrieved 7 February 2026^