Rare-earth metal deposits need to be studied, technological support from foreign partners would be helpful during development - Potanin

MOSCOW. March 18 (Interfax) - Most of Russia's rare earth metal deposits have been poorly studied, and technological support from foreign partners would be helpful during their development, Vladimir Potanin, head of Norilsk Nickel , told reporters.

"Most of these deposits are small, they [the metals] are difficult to extract, so when the smoke clears and the hype dies down, we will need to start working more professionally," Potanin said.

In several cases, the results of geological studies conducted during the Soviet era have been lost, Potanin said. "So all of this will now need to be restored. We are thinking about and working on this," he said.

"I think that since these projects are complex, technological support from the most varied of partners would not hurt us," he said, when asked about cooperation with foreign partners during the development of deposits.

"But it is too early to talk about this. I reiterate, these are very poorly studied deposits. And there is still a lot of work to be done on them," he said.

Russian Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov said in February that Russia plans to reduce the share of imported rare earth metals to 45% by 2030 from the current 75%, thereby ensuring production at 50,000 tonnes.

Russia's biggest proven rare and rare-earth metal deposits are Lovozerskoye in the Murmansk region, being developed by the Rosatom group's Lovozersky Mining and Processing Plant, and Tomtor in Yakutia.

MMC Norilsk Nickel and Rosatom formed LLC Polar Lithium in 2023 to develop the Kolmozerskoye lithium deposit, Russia's largest, in the Murmansk region. The United States imposed sanctions against Polar Lithium in January 2025.

Lithium, along with titanium, tungsten, vanadium, molybdenum and a number of other metals, is according to Russian classification a rare element - a large group of metals that also includes rare-earth metals or lanthanides.

The Kolmozerskoye deposit contains 18.9% of Russia's lithium reserves in 75 million tonnes of ore, and is the country's biggest and most promising such deposit. Its probable P1 lithium oxide resources are 152,600 tonnes, tantalum pentoxide 1,215 tonnes and niobium pentoxide 1,485 tonnes.

A mine at the Kolmozerskoye deposit will produce 45,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate and hydroxide per year. Project capex was estimated at 91 billion rubles in October 2024.