In 2027, the company "Ermakovskoye" in the territory of advanced development (TOR) "Buryatia" will begin producing beryllium products and fluorite concentrate at the Ermakovskoye deposit. According to researchers, it has the maximum content of beryllium oxide in ore of all Russian deposits of this rare metal — 1.19%.
Ermakovskoye was developed from 1979 to 1989 by the Transbaikal Mining and Processing Plant, after which it was mothballed. At the time of licensing in 2005, its reserves were estimated at 1.4 million tons of ore. To ensure their development, more than 10 billion rubles will be invested in the project as investments under an agreement with the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation for scientific and design work, the creation of facilities for the future mining and processing plant, and energy infrastructure.
<b>Why is this important?</b>
Beryllium, one of the rare metals, is necessary for the development of Russian science and technology. Its lightness, strength, hardness, and heat resistance make it indispensable in the defense industry, aircraft construction, rocket engineering, electronics, and electrical engineering. In particular, it is used:
- as an alloying additive to increase the strength, hardness, electrical and thermal conductivity of alloys;
- for the production of moderators and neutron reflectors in nuclear reactors;
- for the production of "windows" for X-ray tubes, from which X-ray radiation is emitted;
- as a structural material in aircraft construction, rocket engineering, and space technology.
<b>Where else is beryllium mined in Russia?</b>
Despite its own natural reserves, Russia has not been engaged in beryllium mining on its territory for decades, purchasing it from partners: Kazakhstan, China, and the USA. However, after the tightening of anti-Russian sanctions, work began in the country to unfreeze and revive two beryllium deposits that once provided the needs of the Soviet industry for this metal.
One of them is the aforementioned Ermakovskoye deposit. The second is the Malyshevskoye deposit in the Sverdlovsk region, where beryllium ore with a beryllium oxide content of 0.14% was mined. The "Mariinsky Mine" produced beryllium concentrate for the needs of the defense industry since 1942. In the late 1980s, ore mining and concentrate production ceased, later, after almost 20 years, the "Mariinsky Mine" in 2014 became part of the Rostec Group, after which it became an independent enterprise engaged in emerald raw materials.
However, since the Soviet period, the enterprise had about 250 thousand tons of beryllium-containing ore, for the processing of which there were insufficient skills and technologies. In 2020, Rostec decided on a new development strategy for the "Mariinsky Mine" using beryllium heritage. It is handled by Rostec's subsidiary, "RT-Capital."
It is known that this strategy includes a roadmap for creating a full-cycle beryllium metal production. Also, in the future, a unique Competence Center for the production of beryllium will appear in Russia on the basis of the "Mariinsky Mine".
<b>Where will Russia get specialists and technologies?</b>
Russian scientists are now creating their own full-cycle beryllium production technology: from ore to metal. The pilot industrial technology for producing beryllium-containing materials is being developed within the framework of the unified industry-specific R&D thematic plan of Rosatom. It involves:
- High-Tech Research Institute of Inorganic Materials named after Academician A. A. Bochvar (VNIINM) — the head organization of Rosatom on the problems of materials science and nuclear fuel cycle technologies for all types of reactors;
- VNIICHT — the leading research institute of the state corporation on chemical technologies for creating cost-effective, highly efficient and environmentally safe technologies for the production and production of uranium, nuclear-pure and rare metals;
- NPO "Luch" — a developer and manufacturer of fuel elements, which is part of the Scientific Division of the state corporation.
At the end of 2022, a new laboratory for chemical analysis of beryllium and its compounds was opened at VNIINM. There, samples of ammonium fluoroberyllate and beryllium fluoride are already produced in small quantities — raw materials for the production of rough beryllium.
Russian specialists already have the technology for producing beryllium from decommissioned products. It is used at the Saratov FSUE "Bazalt", which is part of the Rosatom Group.
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