Russia is negotiating with China, India, and Middle Eastern countries on cooperation in the Angara-Yenisei cluster project for rare earth mining, stated Alexander Maslennikov, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council.
The project office is already working with partners from the Greater South, he clarified. Dialogue is ongoing at both state and company levels, and there is interest from their side. The goal is to develop a model where Russia can act as an integrator of interests and gather partners around the projects.
At the same time, Maslennikov acknowledged the existence of limitations: access to technologies, payment issues, and risks of secondary sanctions from the US and the EU. Despite this, partners are ready for cooperation. The Deputy Secretary of the Security Council emphasized that critical metals, along with energy, form the elemental base for almost all new technological markets, so interest in them is strategic.
Earlier, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu announced that the key locations of the cluster in the Angara-Yenisei macro-region have already been identified. The total area of the project will exceed 3 thousand hectares. It concentrates strategic reserves of critical metals – in particular, 68% of Russia's nickel reserves and 61% of zirconium. These rare earth metals are critically important for the nuclear and space industries, microelectronics, battery production, the defense sector, and robotics. The cluster should ensure the transition from raw material exports to the production of high value-added products in these key industries.