Russia is pushing the market for the world's coveted rare earth metals. So far, the Chinese still dominate there. A unique mining technology developed at the Ural Federal University could help change that.

Scientists from the Ural Federal University have developed a sorbent that will allow the extraction of rare earth minerals from uranium mines. The new technology will be tested within the next three years. The researchers expect that the import demand for rare earth metals in the Russian market could be reduced by almost a third due to their new development.

Today China controls 97 percent of all supplies of rare earth metals. Frequently, the People's Republic was suspected of exploiting this monopoly position and manipulating prices. Of the 120 000 tons of rare earth metals extracted worldwide each year, only about 100 tons come from Russia - once the Soviet Union was the world leader in this field. The new technology is expected to increase production in the coming years to 1 000 tons annually.

The prorector of the Ural Federal University, Sergei Kortow, is certain that the new technology will play a very important role in the current discussion about import substitutions, both in terms of raw materials and finished products. In addition, a price stabilization on the world market could be achieved. "From an economic point of view, it is worthwhile for Russia to mine rare earth metals itself - this way the prices for the end products do not rise," said Kortow in an interview with RBTH. There is still no corresponding production in Russia, but the rare earth metals are needed in many areas, said Kortow.

To test the new technology, the Russian government is making millions of euros available to researchers from the Ural Federal University 6,2. Another 7,4 million euros represents the Moscow company

ZAO Energeticheskie Projekty, which cooperates with the university.

The project will be a cooperation project of several Russian universities and research institutes, including the Ural Federal University, the Frumkin Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a project institute in the city of Oserske. Production will mainly take place in the Russian atomic power company Rosatom, ZAO Dalur in Kurgansk region and OJSC Chiagda in Buryatia. Sverdlovsk is also in discussion as a production location. Researchers hope to develop the complicated technology so that it can also be used in industry. It is not only intended for the extraction of rare earth metals, but also for the production of the entire product range from their concentrates in the form of oxides, as well as compositions, metals, alloys, dopants and finished products.

Rare earth metals are in high demand worldwide

In the newly developed process for the mining of rare earth metals, sulfuric acid is pumped into the soil, which dissolves uranium and rare earth metals. In a special processing the individual substances are separated from each other. The revolutionary thing about this development is the sorbent that can absorb uranium, rare earth metals, and scandium without affecting the quality of the uranium. This sorbent is unique in the world.

The inventors of this new technology at the Physical-Technical Institute of the Ural Federal University have been researching new developments in this field for a long time. Vladimir Rychkov, head of the research group, explains that interest in the mining of rare earth metals in Russia has been low for a long time, hardly anyone has taken note of the researchers' work. But now is the time come, the researchers have developed a technology of the future, he says. He hopes that the new technology helps the processing efficiency.

of the primary products from the uranium mines and contributes to the import substitution of rare earth metals and scandium for the armaments industry, radio electronics, device construction, nuclear technology, mechanical engineering, the chemical industry and metallurgy. “The range of products that we want to offer is very large. It includes metals, oxides, phosphorus, magnets, polishing agents, pipes and much more, ”says Rytschkow.

Many companies have already signaled interest. The Russian defense industry sees an opportunity to become less dependent on China as a supplier of rare earth metals, but also of Western European electronics manufacturers. Rosatom has also expressed interest in the industrial use of the new technology, according to the Ural Federal University. In addition, inquiries come from Western Europe. Especially in demand is neodymium, which is used in the electronics industry and in mechanical engineering.