A Russian scientist has proposed creating an industrial cluster for rare earth metals in Yakutia to improve the efficiency of projects and accelerate the region’s development.
"In order to improve the efficiency of projects and develop high value-added production in Yakutia, a model is proposed for creating a single rare metal cluster in Yakutia, including three projects: extracting lithium from hydromineral raw materials (brines of the Udachnaya pipe), a project for extracting rare earth metals (REM) niobium, scandium and possibly manganese from the ores of the Tomtor deposit, a project for developing the Agylkinskoye deposit to obtain tungsten concentrate," said Andrei Matveyev, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Chief Scientific Secretary of the Academy of Sciences of Yakutia, Head of the Laboratory of the N.V. Chersky Institute of Northern Mining of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
"There are 42 deposits of various minerals in Yakutia, including REM, which are on the state balance of the Russian Federation. At the same time, out of the total number (21), there are only 10 rare metals deposits in Yakutia," TASS quoted him as saying.
In addition to rare earth elements of the famous and unique Tomtor deposit, the most in-demand minerals are lithium from hydromineral brines, and tungsten.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
