Mikhail Yurin, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, inspected the underground mines and assessed the production capacity of the Lovozersk Mining and Processing Plant. Svetlana Panfilova, Deputy Governor of the Murmansk Region and Minister of Arctic Development and Economy, and Deputy Director of the Metallurgy and Metals Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation also paid a working visit to the GOK. Konstantin Fedorov, the management of GOK and representatives of JSC Rosatom Nedra.
During the visit, a working meeting was also held on the further development of the unique production. Representatives of Rosatom, which took over the Lovozersky GOK in 2023, presented a production development concept and, together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia and the Government of the Murmansk Region, discussed support mechanisms for the company to implement a project to modernize the production chain of rare earth metals in the Russian Federation.
"We are facing a task set by the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich According to Putin, to build a complete and sovereign chain of production of separated rare earth metal oxides. The starting point for this is to assess the development potential of the Lovozersky GOK resource base as the main source of raw materials – loparite ores. In the interests of the raw material and technological sovereignty of the rare earth metals industry, a reassessment of the comprehensive financial model and an exhaustive list of proposals for the implementation of the Lovozersky rare earth deposit technological re-equipment project is required. The second most important task is to evaluate the existing mechanisms of state support and, if necessary, to form fundamentally new instruments, including financial ones, which we plan to extrapolate for the implementation of other projects within the framework of the Federal Project "Development of the Rare and Rare Earth Metals Industry," Mikhail Yurin said.
As a result of the meeting, plans were developed for the development of not only Lovozersky GOK, but also the further chain of production of rare earth metals in the country.
"The government of the Murmansk Region is also extremely interested in modernizing the unique production facility in the region. The development of this area will make a significant contribution to the development of the strategic industry and will positively affect both the economic performance of the region and the working conditions at the enterprise," said Svetlana Panfilova.
/Ministry of Arctic Development and Economy of the Murmansk Region/