The President of Russia instructed to accelerate the development of programs for processing industrial waste to extract valuable minerals from them. Vladimir Putin gave the corresponding order to the government together with the Agency for Strategic Initiatives and the Rusnano Corporation. The Cabinet of Ministers must report on the results of this work by September 1.
The main goal of the new initiatives is to organize the extraction of rare and rare earth metals. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, subsoil waste contains a colossal amount of resources: thousands of tons gold and silver, millions of tons of copper and aluminum, as well as significant volumes of strategically important rare earth metals. Some projects in this area have already been successfully launched.
This strategic course is directly related to strengthening the country’s mineral resource base. As the head of state previously noted, Russia has the necessary technologies for processing accumulated waste. Their implementation will not only bring profit to business, but will also reduce environmental damage, while simultaneously stimulating the development of domestic industry and science.
Plans for the development of the industry are confirmed by specific figures. The Ministry of Industry and Trade intends to increase the production of rare earth metals within the country sevenfold. Currently, Russia imports about three quarters of the required volumes of rare earth metals, but by 2030, dependence on foreign supplies is planned to be reduced to 45%.
The development of the largest deposits, such as Lovozerskoye in the Murmansk region and Tomtorskoye in Yakutia. It is expected that annual production will reach 50 thousand tons. Investments in exploration and processing are also growing rapidly. Next year, investments in the search and exploration of rare earth metals will almost quadruple.
The Ministry of Natural Resources is confident that the launch of new capacities, including separation production at the Solikamsk magnesium plant, will allow Russia to enter the top five world leaders in the extraction and processing of rare earth metals in the near future.
The material was prepared with the support of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science as part of the Decade of Science and Technology.
Source: @dprom
