The decline of the French mining industry started in the 1960s. Despite the industry’s need for coal at the start of France’s “Glorious Thirty” (1945-1975), the production stagnated because of difficulties with coal extraction and signs of depletion in many mines. Extraction costs rose and profits went down. In the seventies it also became preferable to choose other forms of energy: oil, natural gas or electricity. The mining unions organised several national strikes and demonstrations for the preservation of jobs, but to no avail. In 1990 the Oignies pit was the very last to close in France.