The powder mill is located in the communes of Vonges and Pontailler-sur-Saône, 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Dijon in the department of the Côte d'Or.

The five year leases were renewed until July 1753, when the site was purchased outright by Charles-Emmanuel Pioche, Inspector-General of Powder and Saltpeter.

The institution also conducted surveillance and inspection of industrial establishments and fireworks factories using the explosives.

[10] Buildings continued to be added or rebuilt in the years that followed, including factories, sheds and lodgings, and trees were planted.

[10] By 1891 the powder mill was one of ten in France, the others being at Esquerdes, Saint-Poncy, Le Ripault (Monts, Indre-et-Loire), Pont de Buis, Angoulême, Saint-Chamas, Toulouse, Saint-Médard and Sevran-Livry.

[4] At the start of the World War I (1914–18) the site covered 66 hectares (160 acres), and had an interior network of Decauville railways between the facilities.

The manufacturing and storage facilities were expanded and barracks were built to house a rapidly growing workforce.

[15] A decree of 23 September 1934 classified the mill as being used for storage, handling and manufacture of powders, ammunition, fireworks and explosives, and defined a polygon of isolation around it.

[16] Louis Jean Charles Maurel was the chief engineer at Vonges at the outbreak of World War II until June 1940.

[17] During World War II (1939-45) German troops entered Vonges on 15 June 1940, and the French retreated to Toulouse.

Italian aircraft bombed the facility on 16 June 1940 and destroyed the General Service buildings.

Production of explosives and gunpowder resumed in October 1940 at a reduced level, since the powder mill could not supply customers in the unoccupied zone of France.

[15] After December 1940 the Germans took control of the facility and authorized deliveries of powders and explosives to the mines.

[19] In 1971 the Société Nationale des Poudres et Explosifs (SNPE) took over all the manufacturing and sales of the government's powder department, including the Vonges Powder Mill, which continued to manufacture gunpowder and industrial explosives cartridges, as well as plastic parts for industrial use.

[20] Titanobel SAS manufactures and markets explosives in France and abroad for use in mines, quarries and other works.