Russia is accelerating plans to expand the mining of lithium and other critical minerals including rare earths to become self-sufficient and counteract the impact of Western sanctions, reported Reuters.
The country is aiming to produce these minerals domestically and halt imports by 2030.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated Russia’s lithium reserves at one million tonnes (mt) in 2024, with potential lithium oxide reserves of 3.5mt.
Despite these reserves, Russia had depended on imports, which were disrupted by Western sanctions in 2022 due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Following the sanctions, lithium supplies from Chile and Argentina ceased, leaving Russia to seek lithium carbonate from Bolivia and China.
This disruption has galvanised Russia to advance the development of its own deposits.
Putin has emphasised the importance of Russia developing its production capabilities for all critical minerals including rare earth metals essential for various high-tech applications.
Speaking at a Moscow conference on advanced technologies, Putin stated: “We still do not mine lithium. And how can we develop without it? But we can do it. And we could have done it ten or 15 years ago.”
Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry reported that the country mined 27 tonnes (t) of lithium as a by-product at an emerald deposit in the Urals mountains in 2023.
Demand for lithium has soared as Russian companies focus on mass-producing lithium batteries and electric vehicles.
Russian metals giant Nornickel and state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom’s joint venture, Polar Lithium, is expediting its Kolmozerskoye lithium deposit in the Murmansk Region of north-west Russia.
Considered to be the country’s largest lithium deposit in terms of reserves, the project was initially due to commence production in 2030 but is now scheduled to start three to four years earlier.
Polar Lithium’s goal is to become Russia’s inaugural domestic producer of lithium-bearing materials and to establish comprehensive local production facilities for lithium-ion batteries.
However, the US imposed sanctions on Polar Lithium as part of its latest sanction package on 10 January.
The global competition for critical mineral reserves including lithium, uranium, titanium and graphite has escalated after US President Donald Trump proposed that Ukraine relinquish 50% of its critical minerals.
Russian forces, having taken a fifth of Ukraine, including rare earth reserves, are now nearing the Shevchenko lithium deposit, according to open source data from the Ukrainian military blog Deep State.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a recent interview, outlined a strategic plan to utilise Ukraine’s vast rare earth mineral deposits.
