Antonina Levashenko: “Innovations in metallurgy will accelerate exploration of resources and reduce costs”

“The application of potential innovations in metallurgy, such as AI-based exploration, direct lithium mining, production of new synthetic graphite, and extraction of rare earth metals from ion-adsorption clay deposits can reduce the capital intensity of production. For example, the introduction of AI into the exploration process can reduce drilling costs by 60% and speed up the production process by 4 times.

In Russia, attracting investment in domestic IT technologies for digital metallurgy is listed as one of the goals of the Strategy for the Development of the Mineral Resource Base of the Russian Federation until 2050. Ensuring a constant flow of investment in digital innovation projects can provide a strategic advantage, as it will significantly accelerate the process of exploration of scarce minerals for Russia.

Unfortunately, practice shows that it is a feature of the sector that new projects and new entrants find it difficult to establish themselves at various stages of the value chain. In highly concentrated markets, new entrants are exposed to potentially unpredictable risks, including market manipulation by incumbent companies. In addition, mining projects are difficult to pay back — it can take up to 15 years to establish production. A future project that needs to raise money by presenting it to a potential investor is labor-intensive: it is time-consuming (more than 5 years) and expensive (billions of rubles). In addition, companies when introducing AI, for example, will need to further identify opportunities to integrate these tools into their production processes, as well as assess barriers to their adoption of AI.

For example, as the IEA notes in the 2025 Critical Materials Report, mining companies increased capital spending by about 15% in 2024, while specialized investors reduced investment by 15%. Real investment growth in 2024 was only 2%. However, it is noted that digital metallurgy projects were a major area of interest for venture capitalists. The volume of venture capital investments in 2024 amounted to more than 1.3 billion US dollars. As noted by the IEA, financing of new technologies has increased significantly: for example, new methods of lithium extraction (direct lithium extraction).

Such digital metallurgy projects will require financial support from the state, especially innovative startups at early stages and especially high-risk projects. These measures can take various forms, including state financial support in the form of loans, subsidies and grants aimed at reducing investment risks,” the expert said.