Russia’s Tomtor deposit in Yakutia, one of the world’s richest known resources of rare earth elements, has attracted the attention of an Indian state-owned company. Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) has formally asked Rosneft for ore samples for laboratory analysis. India is particularly interested in heavy rare earth elements, which are largely absent from its own domestic resource base.
According to Rare Earths magazine, citing Reuters, India’s interest is driven by the unique composition of Tomtor’s ores. India’s own rare earth resources consist primarily of light rare earth elements, while Tomtor is notable for exceptionally high concentrations of heavy rare earths as well as a range of other strategic metals. Among the materials of greatest interest to Indian industry are dysprosium, terbium, yttrium, niobium, and scandium.
Dipendra Singh, former head of IREL and president of the Rare Earth Industry Association of India, believes access to Tomtor ore could help India diversify its supply sources and reduce its dependence on imports. However, concrete cooperation remains some way off.
According to Singh, the most realistic first step would be an offtake agreement—a contract under which a buyer commits in advance to purchase future production. An equity investment could be considered later if the deposit demonstrates commercial viability. Direct project financing, however, is viewed as the least likely option because of the project’s high capital requirements, sanctions risks, and continued uncertainty in the rare earth market.
Tomtor came under Rosneft’s control in May 2025. Before one of Russia’s largest rare metal projects can enter commercial development, however, a range of challenges must be addressed—from securing financing and building Arctic logistics infrastructure to developing cost-effective technologies for processing its complex ores.
India’s interest in Tomtor is an important early signal that the Yakutian deposit is increasingly being viewed internationally not simply as an undeveloped resource, but as a potential source of critical raw materials for advanced industries. Whether the interest develops into actual contracts will depend in part on the results of the laboratory analysis of the ore samples.
Source: Rare Earths magazine
Image: JSC Giprodmet
