Capital investment in the Kolmozerskoye lithium deposit, located in the Murmansk region of Russia, is estimated at 91 billion rubles ($946 million). It will reach the design capacity of 45,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year by 2030.
According to a presentation by the project’s developer Polar Lithium, a joint venture between Norilsk Nickel and Rosatom, the net present value of Kolmozerskoye will be 4.3 billion rubles, and the rate of return is 19%. The life of the open-pit mine will be 39 years.
In the presentation cited by Interfix agency, Polar Lithium's chief geologist Valentin Kryazhev noted that the approbation of reserves had to be shifted by six months due to frequent work stoppages at the request of the indigenous population who needed to forecast their reindeer herding.
Commenting on the lithium market situation, Kryazhev expects a fall in lithium prices in 2025 - 2027 based on the schedule of commissioning of new projects. However, a deficit is expected again from 2027, and all products from Kolmozerskoye will be in demand. He referred to the forecast which assumes that by 2035, the world’s miners would need to commission about 50 mines of the Kolmozerskoye’s tier to meet the growing consumption.
"Such a number of deposits will not be commissioned. Therefore, we expect that our products will be in demand," Kryazhev believes.
The Kolmozerskoye deposit is considered the largest in Russia. Inferred resources of lithium oxide in the P1 category are 152.6 thousand tons, or 18.9% of Russia’s domestic reserves.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
