Russia in talks with China over rare earth elements extraction technology transfer

Russia is holding talks with China to obtain technologies for the extraction of rare earth elements with high-level discussions started some time ago, but the Chinese side has not yet agreed, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov told journalists in the Sept. 8 week.

Manturov stressed that China is a technology leader in the global REE market, and for Russia, establishing a full REE production cycle from mining to processing without access to advanced extractive technologies will be difficult.

In light of what's said, it becomes unclear whether, if the Chinese partner in question does not agree to a technology transfer, it will affect the REE extraction project of Russia's Solikamsk Magnesium Plant (SMZ).

SMZ produces REE carbonates, a powdery mass of compounds of mixed rare earth elements that needs further processing to separate them into individual rare earth elements.

In February 2024, the Perm krai-based plant said it had developed a technology to carry out that separation and a year later, started to design an enrichment facility to enable that further extraction of lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium, cerium and the production of a concentrate of medium-heavy group rare earth metals containing samarium, gadolinium, and europium.

Whether the construction of the facility has started remains unknown, even though its commissioning is penciled for 2027. The production of up to 2,500 mt/year of REEs, including 20% being neodymium and praseodymium, is expected post ramp-up stage, and will be mostly destined for Russia's first permanent magnets plant, another project of state corporation Rosatom, which also owns SMZ.

Until the 1,000 mt/year magnets plant comes online in 2028, Russia's consumption of REEs could remain limited to 1,400-1,500 mt/year.

"Solikamsk, I reckon, will nail their technology [without Chinese]," said an industry analyst, who wished to be unnamed. "The talks [Manturov mentioned] are meant to engage Chinese in the development of the Tomtor deposit," he said.

The untapped Tomtor deposit has both rare metals and REEs, but a significant part of its resources is made up of niobium, which is a rare, not rare earth, metal. Also, given its location above the Arctic Circle, in the northwest of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), bringing this deposit to production will require closing a few other gaps, namely the construction of roads, railway and power lines, and ports, and Rosneft – the project owner – has not yet publicized the cost of building this infrastructure.

According to internal geological data, Russia holds 658 million mt of rare metals and REE resources, of which the latter category comprises 22 million to 28.5 million mt, although the US Geological Survey estimates Russia's REE resources at 10 million mt.