Russian govt approves updated strategy for developing mineral resources up to 2050

MOSCOW. July 29 (Interfax) - The Russian government has approved an updated strategy for the development of its mineral resource base for the period up to 2050.

The strategy envisions two possible scenarios for developing Russia's mineral resources sector. In line with the baseline scenario, available mineral resources and their production will remain basically at the current level, while the target scenario provides for the accelerated development of the mineral resource base to meet growing demand, which involves discovering new major deposits, including in the Arctic and the Far East.

The updated strategy's main objectives include significantly increasing the degree of domestic processing and consumption of mineral resources and building the essential infrastructure for developing and implementing new technologies.

"It is important to fully meet the economy's current and future needs for strategic types of solid minerals while significantly reducing dependence on foreign supplies, primarily those of manganese, chromium, and titanium," the statement quoted Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin as saying.

As reported earlier, Russia set itself the goal of orienting its geological prospecting toward exploring rare-earth and other raw materials for developing prioritized types of domestic production, as demand for them is expected to surge along with the rapid growth of the defense, metallurgical, chemical, construction, and other key industries.