Roskill reports that the Tomtor niobium-rare earth deposit in Yakutia is set to enter development in 2018 at an estimated cost of over $1.3 billion. “The push to advance this rare earth project follows state subsidies to back bank loans and support from Russian authorities. The Tomtor deposit is a joint venture between Russian company Rostec and the ICT Group; the latter holds an interest in the precious metal producer Polymetal. Estimated resources at the Tomtor deposit are reported to be 154 Mt of ore at 9.5% total rare earth oxides (TREO).

“Russia is one of the few rare earth producing countries outside of China. The Solikamsk Magnesium Works exported around 6,000 t of rare earth concentrates in 2017, produced from its Karnasurt mine in the Kola Peninsula; rare earth concentrates are processed further at the Silmet plant in Estonia, a subsidiary of Neo Performance Materials. The plant being designed to process the Tomtor ore in the city of Chita is estimated to have 200,000 t/y of capacity for ore (approximately 20,000 t/y of contained TREO).”