Stroyzaryad: Siberia may create a city for a cluster of rare metals

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu inspected the sites for the construction of a new cluster of deep processing of rare metals in the Angara-Yenisei macroregion. A board of trustees of the project will be formed by the end of the year, headed by First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Shoigu said at an off-site meeting with representatives of departments, regions and businesses in Sayanogorsk. Tax incentives and administrative support are offered for entrepreneurs. The creation of the cluster will launch a new industrialization of Russia. Meanwhile, Shoigu called for thinking about the construction of a satellite city of Sayanogorsk.

Timeline for creating a cluster in Siberia

Secretary of the Russian Security Council Sergei Shoigu arrived in Khakassia on November 7 on a working visit. He examined the land plots for the placement of innovative and industrial infrastructure facilities of the cluster of deep processing of rare metals — the site of the Minusinsk complex and the Sayanogorsk Aluminum Plant. The event was attended by Mikhail Kotyukov, Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Valentin Konovalov, Head of Khakassia, Roman Kovtun, Minister of Economic Development of the Republic of Khakassia, as well as business representatives.

A meeting of the interim interdepartmental working group at the Security Council office to support the implementation of projects in the field of deep processing of raw materials in the Siberian Federal District was held in Sayanogorsk. Sergei Shoigu presided. Government departments were represented by the Deputy Ministers of Industry and Trade, Natural Resources and Ecology, Energy, as well as the Director of the Department of the Ministry of Energy.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of Rosatom and Rostec state corporations, Rusal, Norilsk Nickel, Transmashholding, Roshim, Krastsvetmet, Highland Gold, SUEK, and Himmed.

The Secretary of the Security Council spoke about his plans for the future. A board of trustees for the project will be formed by the end of this year, and Denis Manturov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, has already agreed to head it. In 2026, design and inspection documentation will be developed, and in 2027, the first stage of a number of facilities will be operational.

The business expresses interest in the project. For example, Krastsvetmet told Izvestia that the company would participate as a partner in the development of technology for the isolation and separation of heavy rare earth metals.

Highland Gold intends to participate in the development of the cluster through a company in which it invests jointly with Rostec, LLC Elbrusmetall-Lithium.

It will be involved at all stages – from the extraction of lithium ore at the deposit and its enrichment to produce lithium spodumene concentrate to the processing of concentrate at the facilities of a hydrometallurgical plant under construction in the valley to produce commercial lithium carbonate and hydroxide.

Sergei Shoigu stressed that one of the key issues remains their electricity supply. He also called for thinking about building a satellite city of Sayanogorsk to develop the cluster.

— It is necessary to think about this, including taking into account the fact that the city of Sayanogorsk is the base for you (business. — Ed.), for Sayano-Shushenskaya, Mainskaya HPP, for power engineers, we need to think about and see if we can make another satellite city. Something else needs to be done in this area," he said at a meeting in Sayanogorsk.

Special attention will be paid to government support. As Shoigu pointed out, the work in Krasnoyarsk will be built in the mode of an innovative scientific and technical center.

— In Minusinsk, it is proposed to organize work in the industrial park mode. Sayanogorsk will have a combined regime of an industrial-type special economic zone and an innovative scientific and technical center. All participants will receive tax benefits and administrative support, taking into account the specifics of the regime that will operate in the territory of the presence," the Security Council secretary said.

The meeting ended with the signing of agreements and roadmaps for the implementation of anchor projects within the first stage of the cluster of deep processing of rare metals in the Angara-Yenisei macroregion. The documents were signed by representatives of the Mendeleev Valley Foundation, MCPAO UC Rusal, MKAO Highland Gold, JSC Krastsvetmet and JSC Himmed.

How will the new cluster work?

The large-scale project has not only important economic objectives, but is also intended to become a driver of Russia's new industrialization. It unites industry, science, education and the state into a single ecosystem for the production of technologies and personnel of the future.

The cluster is being created in the territories of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk Region, Khakassia and Tuva. Its goal is to turn Siberia's resource potential into a source of sustainable innovative development of the country and technological sovereignty.

Among the potential difficulties is the localization of rare earth deposits in remote areas with poorly developed or completely absent transport and energy infrastructure. It will have to be built from scratch, and this will require investments significantly more than the development of such deposits in the Urals, industrial expert Leonid Khazanov told Izvestia.

— Complex raw material processing schemes that require expensive equipment and reagents can also be a problem. They will also affect the amount of capital investments," he said.

Despite this, not only Russian business is interested in the new project. Earlier, Sergei Shoigu announced the involvement of companies from the countries of the Global South in the creation of the cluster.

As Gennady Khazanov noted, projects for the development of rare earth deposits may also be of interest to American and Chinese companies. But the former will not come until they receive permission from the US government, and the latter will conduct long negotiations to obtain benefits and preferences.

The issue of environmental conservation remains important when creating a cluster, since Krasnoyarsk is regularly included in the anti-ratings of cities with the dirtiest air. According to Svetlana Radionova, Head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources, "the state has taken all necessary measures to ensure that the facilities being commissioned comply with the highest environmental standards. If the company fulfills the requirements in good faith, the risk of environmental threats is minimal."