Société des mines et fonderies de Pontgibaud
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| Industry | Silver and lead mining and refining |
|---|---|
| Fate | Defunct |
| Founded | 1852 |
| Founder | Alphonse Pallu |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
The Société des mines et fonderies de Pontgibaud (Pontgibaud Mine & Foundry Company) was a French silver and lead mining and smelting company based in Pontgibaud, Puy-de-Dôme. It mined lead-silver ore deposits that had been exploited since Roman times. Later it opened another factory in Couëron in the Loire estuary, and then closed down the Pontgibaud mines and foundry. The Pontgibaud factory in Couëron diversified into other non-ferrous metal products using imported ore. After being sold and resold it finally closed in 1988.
Pontgibaud is in the Massif Central on the banks of the Sioule river. The belts of ore extend for about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north-south parallel to the course of the Sioule on both sides of Pontgibaud. The silver galena veins are embedded in gneissic rock. The different veins of ore at Pranal, Barbecot, Roure, Les Rosiers, La Miouse and Villevieille are mainly oriented in a north-south direction. The ores are encased in migmatites from the base of the Combrailles. The deposits include diverse secondary minerals such as arsenopyrite, anglesite, baryte, bournonite, cerussite, chalcopyrite, freibergite, galena, mimetite, pyrite, pyromorphite, quartz, semseyite, sphalerite, stannite, tetrahedrite and wulfenite. Many European museum hold samples of these minerals, collected from the Pontgibaud mines by 19th century mineralogists.
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