An audiomagnetotelluric survey has been performed along an inactive flank of La Fournaise volcano massif in Reunion island, to study the subsurface resistivity structure. One-dimensional modelling of the AMT data at each site revealed an extensive low-resistivity (less than 10 ω m) zone at a few hundred meters below the surface. The significance of this unexpected conductive substratum is discussed in relation with the proposed impact of volcano-tectonic processes (caldera and landslides collapses), and a new interpretation of the geological structure is proposed. Moreover, it is likely that these conductors are poorly permeable argilaceous materials; then they coincide with a limit in permeability and determine groundwater behavior.