Russia's Polymetal Invests in Rare Earth Project to Tap EV Demand

Polymetal International PLC invests US$20 million in one of Russia's largest known deposits of rare earth metals, Tomtor, in return for a 9.1% stake of ThreeArc Mining in the project. Three Arc Mining Corporation holds Tomtor niobium and rare earth projects in the northwestern Yakutia of the Far Eastern Federal District.

Polymetal Group was founded in 1998 in Saint Petersburg and since then it has built a portfolio of gold and silver mines in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Armenia. The company is the third global primary silver producer, the largest silver and the fourth gold producer in Russia. It produced 810 Koz of gold equivalent in 2011. Production output in 2011 consisted of 55% gold, 41% silver, and 4% copper. In 2008 it produced 17.2 million ounces of silver and 285,000 ounces of gold.

Polymetals CEO Vitaly Nesis said that the merger will allow the company to enter the rare earth metals and electric vehicle industries. He also said that the company's capital injection and engineering technical services for the Tomtor project will push the project forward. After completing the JORC reserve estimation, the company may further cooperate with ThreeArc Mining Ltd. Tomtor is Russia's richest rare earth deposit and the richest niobium deposit in the world.

Per the data for 2018 statutory pre-feasibility and updated reserves of the project invested by Russia's Polymetal, the Tomtor mine holds 30.5 million tons of ore at grades of 4.0% niobium oxide and 10.6% rare earth oxides and containing 1.2 million tons of the former and 3.2 million tons of the latter.

Niobium a light grey, crystalline, and ductile transition metal which is scarcest. There are currently only three major niobium ores in Brazil and Canada. Brazil is the leading producer of niobium and ferroniobium, an alloy of 60–70% niobium with iron. Niobium is used mostly in alloys, such as that used in gas pipelines. The temperature stability of niobium-containing super-alloys is important for its use in jet and rocket engines. The increasing demand has created more than $ 2 billion in global market share. Global niobium resources are estimated to exceed 9 million tons.

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