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In the Pyrénées Mountains region, and more specifically in the upper valley of the France's Ariège region, the river bearing the same name originates at the border of Andorra in what is known as the Fort Negre cirque, and finally reaches the Garonne just before Toulouse after running a 170 kms course. In the vicinity of Labarre pass, the Ariège river runs through the Plantaurel foothills rich in limestone. The diversity of the geological outcrops and mineral veins makes the Ariège a mining region the ressources of which were exploited by the Romans early on : iron, bauxite, zinc, manganese and more recently, tungsten. |
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