Joint involvement of Russia and the U.S. in Arctic rare earth metals (REM) mining and processing projects holds strong potential and could benefit both sides, said Antonina Levashenko, head of the Laboratory for the Analysis of Best International Practices at the Gaidar Institute, in a comment to Prime.
According to her, “a promising area of cooperation for Russian and American companies could be joint participation in Arctic REM mining or processing projects, particularly the development of the Tomtor deposit.”
She noted that this Arctic deposit is promising for strengthening Russia’s position in the global REM market because its ore does not require pre-enrichment, unlike other Russian REM ores.
“At the same time, the project already requires substantial investment due to two complicating factors: difficult logistics — the site is located in a remote area of the Republic of Sakha — and the need for labor-intensive ore extraction and processing technologies, since the tightly bound minerals must be separated by different methods,” Levashenko added.
She also emphasized that “American companies may be interested in investing in this project, as it would offer financial returns, accelerate efforts to reduce China’s dominance in REM, and decrease Chinese control over global REM prices.”