English: Bauxite, Le secteur du Val, Var, north-west of Brignoles, from the mine to the tile yard for sorting before recommissioning the cable transport (Coll E Mulos, Voie Étroite no. 215, August 2006). The locomotive is a Deutz MLH 514 or 714, depending on the year of construction.

From an article by R. Rostagni in Voie Étroite n° 215, August 2006:

Despite the considerable importance of the Var basin, bibliography is sparse and difficult to access. However millions of tons of bauxite were transported over many decades, according to the technical means available at the time. The photo is part of the collection of Mr. Eugène Mulos, a 90-year-old executive who joined the mine at the age of 17. Bauxite processing in France was carried out at the Salindres plant in the Gard region (Hérault basin), and at Gardanne, La Barasse and Les Aygalades on the outskirts of Marseille.

At certain times, more than half of the French production was exported via the ports of Saint-Raphaél, Toulon and the Marseilles region. There are essentially three types of bauxite:

• red bauxite for aluminum production (plants produce alumina, a white powder which is then transported to the foot of the big barrages, where it is transformed into aluminum by electrolysis, an extremely energy-intensive process.

• yellow or grey (truitée) bauxite, which, after treatment, is used to produce abrasive products or ferroalloys.

• white bauxite was transformed in factories into refractory bricks, earthenware and even paints.

There were dozens of operations, from landowners to multinationals, some of which were suspended, others taken over and often resold. We won't therefore mention them here, and will confine ourselves to sector-by-sector transport solutions.

In view of the necessary details given above, we'll confine this first article to the Val area near Brignoles.

Numerous small operations have existed here since 1885, including La Brasque, Notre Dame, du Carnier and others. At the beginning of the last century, several of them were underground and equipped with descending chutes powered by petrol-driven winches_ Later, inclined planes and two descending chutes, 180 m and 110 m long, were powered by 8 and 12 hp electric motors. The ore was sorted by women on the floor before shipment. In 1913, a 4800 m cable crossed the heights to the south, ending at the dry port of Maquan on the RN7 road west of Brignoles. Powered by a 26 hp motor, it was capable of a daily throughput of 350 tons. A hopper was used to load the PLM gondola cars, which were maneuvered by an electric winch. It is likely that human or animal power was also used to push the wagons from the mine to the pit.

This photo from 1948 shows a convoy of 6 waggons pulled by a Deutz diesel tractor at the La Brasque mines. These installations remained in operation until the 1950s.

Photo caption: From mine to tile for sorting prior to cable re-prioritization. Coll. E. Mulos.