Information about mineral resources and their role in our everyday objects—a key aspect of our century.

Resources & You

Cars, refrigerators, lights, pet food dispensers—today, many of our everyday objects are connected, and that connection is worth its weight in gold! We find up to 50 metals in our smartphones, including gold and tantalum derived from coltan, sadly nicknamed “blood ore.” The “Resources & You!” project addresses the need for information on mineral resources and their role in our everyday objects—a key issue of our century.

"Ressources & Vous!" allows us to address various social issues, including a major current topic: "Is it acceptable to open mines in France?" The reopening of mines today in Lozère and Allier raises questions ranging from geosciences to global geopolitics.

Through workshops and interactive exhibits, we invite you to discover the importance of these resources in everyday life. Our materials are reviewed and refined in collaboration with scientists, fostering a dialogue between the worlds of research, public outreach, and citizens. Within the Ressources&Vous framework, the connection to research is facilitated by Bénédicte Cenki of the Geosciences Laboratory in Montpellier and the ANR project team she leads.

We host these various events throughout all departments in the Occitanie region. These events and our various tools are royalty-free under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license. We can send them to you upon request.

OUR ACTIVITIES

• Waste or Gold Mines?
• What if we opened mines in France?
• How a Phone Is Made
• A very tangible digital world

SOME RESOURCES

• Addressing the energy impact of generative AI
• Abundance and scarcity of chemical elements
• Anxiety, depression, and addiction linked to digital communication
• Mining disasters: the price of the minerals in our smartphones is paid in human lives