In November, President Putin called for more investment in the domestic industry.
Russia’s biggest oil producer, Rosneft, has acquired the country’s largest rare earth deposit, Tomtor, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. On May 20, the company secured full ownership of Vostok Engineering, the license holder for the project, the Russian corporate registry shows. The Tomtor deposit in the remote Yakutia region in Russia’s Far East could become a key asset for Moscow’s ambitions to become a global leader in rare earth production. In 2020, Russia unveiled a $1.5 billion plan to become the world’s second-largest rare earth producer after China.
The push to develop the sector intensified last November, when President Putin criticized delays at major sites like Tomtor and called for greater investment (we reported). At that time, industry observers already speculated that Rosneft would join the venture.
With the acquisition now finalized, the state-backed energy giant could become a key player in its domestic rare earth sector. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Russia holds an estimated 3.8 million metric tons of rare earth reserves, the fifth largest globally. While not proven and thus not counting towards the country’s reserves, the Tomtor deposit alone is projected to contain 3.2 million tons of rare earth oxides in addition to roughly 1.3 million tons of niobium, another critical mineral, according to the Investment Portal of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation.
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